Birthmark
by jazzywriter22
Summary: Damon tells Elena that he knows exactly what she looks like naked because he dated her doppelganger. Little does he know that Elena has a unique birthmark located in an intimate location...
1. Chapter 1

Elena Gilbert stepped out of Damon Salvatore's shower and reached for her towel. She looked around the bathroom. Even though it was a sunny August morning, the room was minimally lit. The only light in the space shone in from a small window on the eastern wall and several tiny sconces in the ceiling. The majority of the walls were painted a dark cream color, with the exception of the grey stone slabs that formed the walls next to the seamless glass shower. A white standalone tub sat atop dark grey floor tiles. The entire room exuded masculine elegance, and Elena forced herself to admit that it perfectly suited Damon's personality.

Elena shook her head at herself as she toweled water droplets off her lean body. She still couldn't believe that life's circumstances had forced her to use Damon's shower for the entire week. Mystic Falls' water company called her yesterday to inform her that her neighborhood water line sprung a large leak during the middle of the night. The water company decided to turn off the neighborhood water supply for the duration of the week it would take to repair the leaky pipe. Elena had racked her brain trying to think of places she could shower for the next seven days, but everyone she thought of with an available shower was away for the week. Aunt Jenna and Alaric Saltzman, her history teacher, were vacationing together at the beach. Jeremy, her younger brother, took summer art classes two hours away in Richmond. Her best friends, Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes, were away at cheerleading camp. Matt Donovan and Tyler Lockwood, her main male friends, had to lead a weeklong football retreat in the mountains, and they'd convinced Stefan Salvatore, Damon's younger brother and her former boyfriend, to join them. Apparently Damon Salvatore was Elena's only friend left in Mystic Falls with an available shower for the week.

Elena felt more than a little unnerved when she came to that conclusion. She also felt similarly anxious when she arrived at the Salvatore boarding house that morning, her shampoo, soap, towel, and work clothes packed neatly into her faded brown messenger bag. Ever since she and Stefan amicably broke up with each other several months ago, Damon had upped his attempts to seduce her. His attention both annoyed and amused Elena. She'd never admit it, but she enjoyed the dramatic way he always appeared from nowhere. What she didn't like was the way his hands shot tingly arrows down her spine every time he "accidentally" touched her. Elena was hesitant to explore the romantic side of her relationship with Damon. She knew that she liked him, but she happened to be single for the first time in a long time, and she felt powerful from being completely self-sufficient. The fewer complications she had in her life, the better.

Damon Salvatore was definitely a complication.

His choice to remodel every bathroom in the boarding house that week except for his own one? Complication. The deliberate smirk on his face when he told her that she'd have to use his bathroom that week? Complication. The flutter in her heart at the sight of that knowing grin? Complication, complication, complication.

Elena tightly wrapped her towel around her body as she padded out into Damon's bedroom. She'd made him promise – multiple times – to not peek in on her while she changed, but she clutched her towel to her chest as she searched the room for a certain blue-eyed vampire lurking about. She didn't trust Damon to keep his promise. Damon had serious boundary issues, and he tended to cross the lines of impropriety at the worst possible moments. Elena still hadn't quite forgiven him for the time he snuck into the girls' locker room at school after her gym class and pulled her into a running shower stall with him. Sure, they'd both been fully clothed and sure, nothing happened, but Elena was forced to wear Caroline's bright pink sweatsuit the rest of the day because her clothes were completely soaked, all thanks to Damon. Ever since that incident, Elena made sure to keep any occurrences of being around Damon and water to a minimum.

Once Elena looked through every possible hiding place in Damon's bedroom and discovered that they were all Damon-free, she walked over to his bed and sat down next to her satchel. She rummaged through the bag and pulled out a peach lingerie set, a conservative teal dress, and a pair of worn beige pumps. She'd rediscovered her love of writing during the school year and had spent her summer interning at Mystic Falls' newspaper. The editor was a former patient of her late father, Grayson Gilbert, and as such she'd allowed Elena to write several profiles of local town businesses. Today Elena had an interview lined up with Matilda "Milly" Tomkins, the elderly owner of Milly's Floral Shop. Although Elena missed the comfort of her standard jeans and sneakers ensemble, she understood the importance of dressing professionally on these interviews. She also secretly liked the way her legs looked when she wore high heels, so she didn't mind donning a nice dress and pumps on interview days.

Elena laid all of her work clothes in a neat row on Damon's bed. She loosened her grip on her towel and let it pool next to her ankles on the floor.

"Even better than I remembered."

Elena's eyes shot wide open as she crashed to the ground. Her fingers fumbled around for the ends of her discarded towel. Gripping the damp fabric tightly in her hands, she wrapped it around her body, stood up, and spun around to face the door.

"Damon!" she yelped. Her eyes filled with a combination of fury and embarrassment at the thought of him seeing her naked without an invitation. "You promised that you wouldn't peek!"

Damon shrugged as he casually leaned against his doorframe. He looked as if he'd just stumbled out of bed, even though Elena knew he'd been away from his room for hours. Sleep tousled his inky black hair, and he wore nothing but a pair of silk boxers. An easy, drawling smirk spread across his face as watched Elena's eyes wander to his bare, toned chest. "I lied." His eyes appreciatively roamed over every inch of Elena's body, across her bare feet, up her long legs, around the defined curves of her waist and breasts, along the line of her collarbone, and finally settled when his admiring blue eyes met her indignant brown ones. As he strode towards her, she took matching steps backwards. The motion caused her scent to roll off her in waves that crashed upon Damon's nose. He stopped, closed his eyes, and inhaled. The aroma of her herbal shampoo blended with the fragrance of her honeyed blood. Elena smelled positively divine, and Damon's desire for her formed an aching pool low in his gut. His boxers suddenly felt constricting, and Damon inhaled several deep breaths to will himself down.

When Damon finally opened his eyes, he saw Elena staring directly at him. Apprehension filled her face. "What are you doing?"

"Smelling you." He took another tentative step towards her. It would be so easy to rip the towel from her grasp, throw her onto his bed, and make endless love to her. Her naked body lay within his grasp. His blood begged him to touch her.

Elena took several additional steps away from Damon so that his massive bed stood between them. His eyes expressed everything he ever felt and wanted, and right now his eyes harbored a raw, reckless glint.

Major complication.

"Smelling me?" she repeated, hoping to distract Damon from his wild thoughts. He nodded and licked his lips.

"Your blood smells like honey from the hives that grew near my house as a child." Damon's voice became soft and distant as a distant expression filled his eyes. "Stefan and I played by the beehives when we were younger. We dared each other to steal honey from the combs. Sometimes we succeeded, sometimes we didn't. The only thing that mattered was that we could occasionally get away with doing something seemingly forbidden."

Damon's eyes refocused on Elena. When he spoke again, his voice was low and rough. His meaning was unmistakable. "The taste of honey is always worth the price of beestings, Elena."

Shivers raced down Elena's spine as she realized the full extent of Damon's statement. He wanted her, blood and body, and he would continue to endure her rejecting stings in the hopes that he'd eventually be rewarded with her sweetness.

Elena stood up straight and tried to ignore the new, wobbly feeling in her bones. She attempted to infuse authority into her voice. "Damon, I need to get dressed for work."

"So get dressed." He hopped onto his bed and leaned back into the mound of plumped pillows. Elena gave him an incredulous look.

"A little privacy, please?"

Damon shook his head. A sly grin covered his face. "Don't be such a prude, Elena. Besides, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before."

"You haven't seen me naked before, Damon," Elena retorted. Her fingers held an iron-strong grip on her towel. Thinking of something, she glared at Damon. "You haven't been spying on me in the bathroom any other times, have you?"

Damon bolted upright in his bed. He grimaced and ran his hands through his hair. "Calm down, Elena, I'm not a pervert. If you want to be technical about it, this is the first time I've seen any part of you naked. But," he continued, suggestively waggling his eyebrows, "I have seen your doppelganger naked many, many times. I think it's safe to say I know exactly what you look like underneath that flimsy little towel of yours. However, I certainly wouldn't mind if you chose to give me a little reminder."

Steam practically erupted from Elena's ears. "I don't know what I should be more upset about, Damon: your complete lack of respect for other people's privacy, or the fact that you think you know everything about my body just because you were intimate with Katherine!"

"If the shoe fits, honey," he shrugged, resting his hands behind his head. Elena glowered at his smug expression.

"So you think there is absolutely nothing unique about Katherine and my bodies at all? That I don't have a scar that she does, or that her left foot is slightly bigger than mine? Nothing?"

Damon smirked at Elena, a wicked gleam in his eye.

"You could always drop that towel again and let me honestly appraise the situation." Damon chuckled as Elena threw one of her beige heels at him and missed his head by three feet. He rolled off his bed and danced out of his bedroom with a spring in his step. He loved it when Elena got fired up about something, although he didn't understand why she was so riled up about being compared to Katherine. Katherine was a huge bitch, but she had a smoking hot body. Elena's personality was nothing like Katherine's, but he could tell that her figure was equally stunning. He hadn't meant to walk in on her today, but he could now officially confirm that Elena's backside was lush and round and absolutely fantastic.

Damon lived for the day when Elena willingly revealed her entire body to him.

As soon as Damon left his bedroom, Elena ran over to his door and slammed it shut. She locked the door handle and dropped her towel, angrily pulling her panties up her thighs. Who did Damon think he was, first stealing a peek of her naked body, then having the gall to claim that he knew what every inch of her naked body looked like? Elena despised the fact that she and Katherine looked exactly alike. Katherine caused the Salvatore brothers so much strife back in 1864, and Elena hated knowing that she shared a face with the person who brought so much grief to their lives. Elena wanted to find a physical difference between her and Katherine so badly, just to prove to herself that she and Katherine weren't exact doppelgangers.

After her run-in with Damon this morning, Elena longed to find that difference more than anything. She wanted to rub it in his face.

Elena fastened her bra around her back and stared at her body in Damon's full-length mirror. She stepped closer to the glass and scrutinized her body for any unusual marks. The Salvatore brothers healed all of her recent injuries with their blood, so no fresh scratches adorned her body. No, if she had any marks of physical differences from Katherine, she would have received them before she met Stefan and Damon.

Elena carefully scanned every inch of her skin. She started at her arms, her elbows, but saw no distinctive features on them. Her eyes traveled down to her toned stomach. She gently placed her fingers over her ribs, prodding the thin layer of skin that lay over them, but nothing stood out to her. Her hands slowly crept down her waist until they rested on her upper thighs. She pushed her flesh around, desperate to find something, anything that distinguished her from Katherine.

Her eyes rested on a dark figure on the inside of her right thigh. Confused, she spread her legs apart to give herself a better look at the blotch. A smug smile spread across her face as she gently outlined the darkened flesh with her fingertip.

Elena had forgotten about her signature birthmark.

The heart-shaped mark, or her "love mark" as Stefan once called it, was the size of a square centimeter. It was several shades deeper than her olive skin, and all the sun Elena had soaked up this summer only accentuated that difference. The mark was centered on the upper portion of her inner right thigh, a mere inch away from her feminine core. Elena's face flushed as she recalled the countless times Stefan had focused his...attention...on her birthmark when they made love. Her skin was especially sensitive in that area, and the feel of lips and fangs against that part of her flesh created some of the most violently euphoric sensations Elena had ever experienced.

Elena certainly planned to torture Damon with that piece of information.

A sunbeam shone into Damon's room as Elena skipped over to his bed and eagerly pulled her teal dress over her shoulders. The rediscovery of her birthmark replaced the fury she felt towards Damon with a smug satisfaction. He thought he knew what every inch of her body looked like, but Stefan had assured Elena that her heart birthmark was one of her completely unique features.

Elena grinned as she zipped up her dress, slid into her pumps, and brushed her long hair. She shoved the clothes she'd worn over to the boarding house in her messenger bag, zipped it up, and walked out of Damon's bedroom. She bounced down the stairs with a spring in her step. Her first taunting words to Damon rested on the tip of her tongue.

Damon read the Mystic Falls newspaper as he lay reclined on the sofa in front of his fireplace. He heard Elena's footsteps on the stairs and looked up as she came into view. His breath snagged in his throat. He loved it when she wore her fitted professional dresses, loved the way her breasts and backside filled out the fabric in a way that made her so alluring. She looked put together, cool, and collected. All his body screamed at him to do was rush to Elena's side, scoop her up in his arms, and spent countless hours ruffling that composed look of hers in every room of the boarding house.

Damon clenched his hands into fists as he struggled to banish the naked image of Elena from his mind. He watched her stride to the kitchen and emerge several minutes later with a filled water bottle in her hand. She looked at him with a coquettish smile plastered across her face. He felt confused. She'd been so mad at him fifteen minutes ago, and now she smiled at him as if she knew every last one of his secrets. Something had changed, and Damon hated that he didn't know the source of her grin.

Damon shook his head to clear his thoughts. He straightened up on the sofa and smirked at Elena. "Did you see the full moon this morning? The view was spectacular."

Elena rolled her eyes as she walked towards the door. "Thanks for letting me borrow your shower, Damon."

"Maybe next time we can save water and shower together," he offered, waggling his eyebrows. "I hear it's a great way to save the planet."

"Not a chance."

"Oh come on, Elena, you don't want all the fishies and the...polar bears to die, do you?"

She raised a single eyebrow. "Polar bears?"

"Yes, Elena, polar bears. Cute, cuddly white balls of fluff that you're condemning to their doom just because you're squeamish about me seeing your diddly bits." Damon placed his hands behind his head and reclined. "Would it really be that bad if you saved a polar bear during the process?"

Elena marched towards the front door and opened it. "I have to go to work, Damon."

"Have fun with Milly," he teased.

"Will do." Elena stepped outside of the house and turned around to face Damon, who'd walked her to the door. "By the way Damon, did Katherine have any birthmarks?"

His forehead wrinkled as he pondered the question before quickly shaking his head. "Nope, none. And believe me," he said, leaning towards her face, "I'd know."

Elena inwardly released a whooping cheer. Damon knew nothing of her birthmark. She forced a nonchalant expression on her face as she shrugged. "Huh."

Damon's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Elena's offhand remarks always possessed hidden meaning. "Huh? What's "huh" supposed to mean?"

Elena shrugged again as the smile she'd contained burst onto her face. "I'll see you later, Damon."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her to his body. He hadn't put on a shirt yet, and his skin burned where it touched hers.

God, he needed this girl.

"Do you have any birthmarks, Elena?" Damon playfully asked, tenderly rubbing the back of her hand with the soft pad of his thumb. He smirked as a quick tremor coursed through her body as she tugged her hand from his. Elena wasn't indifferent to his advances, and both of them knew it.

Elena mentally chided herself for letting that brief, pleasurable shudder escape her defenses. She rubbed her fingers across the hand Damon touched, desperate to wipe the unwelcome tingles away. These prickles were another unwanted complication in her life courtesy of the shirtless, smoldering vampire standing across from her.

"You tell me, Damon," Elena abruptly said, forcing the mischievousness back into her voice. "Since, according to you, Katherine and I look exactly alike, surely you'd know the answer to your question." Satisfied with her response, Elena spun on her heels and strolled to her car. She unlocked the car door, tossed her bag on the passenger's seat, and slid into the driver's seat. She slammed the door shut and turned the key in the ignition as she released an uneasy sigh. As she drove away from the boarding house, she stole a glance at the front door. Damon stood there, exactly where she left him, with a baffled expression on his face. Elena chuckled. She almost felt bad for him, but she quickly pushed her pitying thoughts from her head. Damon loved using his body to fluster her and make her uncomfortable.

A little taste of his own medicine wouldn't hurt him.

* * *

><p><strong>I originally wanted this story to be a one shot, but inspiration struck and boom! <em>Birthmark<em> developed into a story! What do you think? How do you think Damon will react when he learns about Elena's birthmark? Your reviews will be welcomed with open arms! **


	2. Chapter 2

Damon stood rooted to the floor as he watched Elena drive away from the boarding house. He saw her shoulders heave with laughter through the tinted windows of her car.

She was laughing at him.

Why was she laughing at him?

Damon ran a shaking hand through his rumpled hair as he walked back into the boarding house common room. He sat down on the sofa and sank his head into his hands for several seconds before he sighed, forcefully stood up, and paced across the carpet. The memory of Elena's deliberate giggles constantly replayed itself in his head, and his brows furrowed as he tried to make sense of what happened.

She laughed at him.

Why did she laugh at him? What did she know that he didn't?

Nervous energy hummed through Damon's legs as he stalked across the floor. He couldn't sit down. Elena's temperament did a complete reversal in the past fifteen minutes. First she threw a shoe at – okay, near – him because she was so angry that he'd seen half of her naked, and now she appeared positively giddy, and Damon had no idea what caused this turnaround. He disliked being left out of the loop, especially when that loop involved a joke made at his expense.

After Katherine's betrayal, Damon had quite enough of someone else having fun at his expense.

Damon winced at the thought of Katherine and stormed over to his liquor cabinet. His eyes purposefully roamed over his supply of alcohol before he pulled a bottle of his best bourbon from the top shelf. Katherine, he thought, knew all about doing everything at someone else's expense. Her manipulating schemes brought him nothing but misery throughout his entire existence, and Damon despised that he'd let someone control him for so long. Katherine made a quick stop in Mystic Falls three months ago to win Stefan back after he and Elena broke up, but she quickly realized that Stefan wanted nothing to do with her and would never leave with her.

Damon had never felt prouder of his little brother than when Stefan literally threw Katherine's suitcases out of the boarding house and onto their front lawn. The sight of Katherine's silky undergarments strewn haphazardly across the green grass felt so satisfying. Damon's lips quirked upwards at the memory, and he raised his bourbon bottle high above his head.

"Here's to you, Katherine," he announced to the empty house before lowering the bottle to his lips and taking a large gulp of liquor.

The alcohol burned Damon's throat, and he ran his tongue around his mouth to ease the stinging sensation. He looked over at the massive grandfather clock on the side of the room. 8:00 in the morning. Elena would be at the newspaper office by now. He'd visited her at work so often this summer that he'd memorized her daily routine. As soon as she arrived at the office, she walked over to her cubicle, hung her messenger bag in a nearby coat closet, and turned her computer on. Once she logged in, she walked over to the kitchen area and restocked the newspaper's coffee and tea supply. She then headed back to her desk and checked both her work and personal email accounts. For the rest of the work day, she alternated between writing and editing articles, calling people to schedule interviews, and occasionally leaving the office to conduct those interviews. She always ate lunch at 12:00 sharp with Brian, a senior from Mystic Falls' rival high school and the newspaper's other summer intern. Elena always laughed when she talked to Brian, and Damon's stomach clenched at the thought of someone else spending more time with Elena than he did. Damon made sure to bring Elena lunch at least once a week, primarily so he could eat with her, but also to show Brian that Elena had another man – a better man – in her life.

Damon took another swig of bourbon before recapping the bottle, placing it back in his cabinet, and walking upstairs to his bedroom. He walked to the middle of the room, stopped, and inhaled. A guttural moan escaped his lips as Elena's herbal and honey scent wafted over him, and he quickly divulged himself of his tightening boxers. He practically ran over to his shower and forcefully turned the water on. A nice, cold shower was exactly what he needed right now to assuage all of the throbbing pressure in his lower half.

Damon stepped into the shower with the largest hard on he'd sported in a long time. The water against his back was frigid, but Damon felt nothing but curling heat as he firmly gripped his aching length. His blood boiled every time he inhaled, because the shower area enhanced Elena's lingering smell. Damon muttered a soft curse under his breath as he ran his hand up and down his steel member. Elena had unknowingly found a way to seduce him even when she wasn't around, and he could throttle her for it. Her aroma drove him mad, blood boiling insane, and this was only the first day she used his shower. She would be in his bathroom for another six days, which meant his personal space would be perfumed with herbal and honey and Elena for another six days.

Damon's strokes became more fervent when he came to this realization.

With a raspy growl and a thought of Elena's bare backside, Damon exploded into his hand. His knees wobbled, and he leaned against the rock wall to regain his balance as the sticky residue washed off his fingers. He was certain he would go crazy by the end of the week. Just knowing that Elena once stood naked in the same spot he currently stood drove him wild with desire. He wanted to join her in her morning shower so badly. His muscles tensed as he thought of how easily he could slip into the shower behind her, dissolve her protests with his kisses, and take her multiple times against the stone wall.

Once Damon got his hands on Elena's naked, perfect body, he would make her crave showers with him. He felt confident that she'd never want to shower alone after he enacted all of his wicked, forbidden longings with her.

Damon felt himself start to harden again, and he quickly lathered his mint shampoo in his hair to distract himself from his thoughts. He would shower with Elena by the end of the week. He'd make her see reason, force her to lower her guard. Damon could see no reason why two intelligent, lively, ridiculously attractive individuals couldn't share a fun cleansing session together.

After all, their efforts would save a polar bear.

Damon grinned as he rinsed his hair of the shampoo and watched the bubbles disappear down the drain. He lifted his chest to the showerhead to wash away some excess foam. When he pulled it back, his eyes settled on three small, faded scars that rested on the left side of his stomach.

Damon vividly remembered how he'd gotten those scars. The year was 1849. He and Stefan were nine and two years old, respectively speaking. Their barn cat, a gray tabby Damon affectionately named Smokey, gave birth to a litter of kittens. Stefan fell in love with a calico kitten and called her Patches. When Damon finished with his daily tutors, he and Stefan snuck out to the barn to play with the kittens. Damon made Stefan promise to keep the cats a secret, as he knew that their father, Giuseppe Salvatore, would disapprove of his boys fooling around with such feminine animals.

One night at dinner, Stefan accidentally let it slip that he and Damon played with a litter of kittens every afternoon. Giuseppe was furious, and despite Damon and Stefan's fervent pleas, he stormed out to the barn, shoved all of the cats into a burlap sack, and tossed them into the lake near their property. Stefan sobbed and sobbed, inconsolable over the loss of his Patches. Damon felt so bad for his younger brother that he snuck out of bed, ran down to the lake, stripped his clothes, and dove in to search for the drowned kittens. The lake water was dirty and smelled of rotten fish, and Damon's nose wrinkled as he frantically tried to stay afloat. He almost gave up when he heard a soft mewling sound. Damon looked up and saw a bedraggled Patches sitting atop his discarded clothes. He furiously swam to the lake's edge and scooped Patches up in his arms. The drenched kitten hissed and spat at him, clawing at his skin with her tiny claws. One of her swipes drew blood, but the pain was worth it to see Stefan's face radiate with childish joy the next morning when Damon showed him his beloved Patches.

Damon's fingers delicately traced the three scratch marks on his stomach. His body didn't have many scars, but out of the few he did have, he felt proudest for acquiring those three lines. They exemplified an unselfish act born out of the love he'd felt for his brother.

As Damon reached for his soap to continue his shower, his eyes narrowed as he thought of something.

Didn't Elena ask him about scars this morning?

Damon soaped his body as he replayed their conversation in his head. Elena talked of scars and birthmarks, specifically those she had that Katherine didn't. She'd been so mad at him for implying that her body was exactly the same as Katherine's, an anger he still didn't understand. They were doppelgangers, for crying out loud. Of course they would share more than pretty faces. And besides, a doppelganger was a supernatural occurrence, so it wouldn't be a surprise to learn that every inch of Elena's physical appearance mirrored Katherine's. He was confident that Katherine's body didn't have any birthmark; therefore, Elena's body wouldn't have any birthmarks.

Then again, what if it did?

Damon frowned. In fifteen minutes, Elena had gone from being adorably livid to surprisingly pleasant. She walked around the boarding house with a newfound spring in her step – and a sway in her behind, not that he noticed – that suited a woman who had complete control over her surroundings. She acted as if she just discovered a piece of valuable information, one that he would beg her to get his hands on. This change in her demeanor stemmed from a conversation about distinguishing features.

The bar of soap dropped from Damon's hand to the shower floor and landed with a resounding thud. His eyes widened. Realization flooded his head.

Elena had a unique birthmark.

Damon stood stone still in the shower. The cool water massaged his back as he thought about this possible turn of events. He saw no other explanation for the complete reversal in Elena's behavior. She had discovered a birthmark somewhere on her body that Katherine didn't have, and she relished that distinctiveness. More importantly, Elena knew the location of this mysterious birthmark. He didn't.

This lack of information would never do.

Damon leaned over and picked up the dropped soap, rolling his eyes at the innuendo of the situation. He quickly rinsed his body, turned off the shower water, and stepped onto the brown rug. After toweling the water droplets off his body, he slung the fabric around his hips and strode into his bedroom. He walked over to his underwear drawer and picked out a pair of navy silk boxers patterned with silver horseshoes.

After all, he'd need all the luck he could get when dealing with Elena and her personal space.

Damon stepped into his boxers and pulled them up to his waist. He grabbed a black undershirt and fitted black jeans out of his closet and tugged them onto his body. His fingers nimbly laced his lack boots onto his feet.

Damon stood upright and looked at himself in the mirror. He looked dark and dangerous, the perfect image of seduction. Elena was a fool if she thought she could withhold this trinket of personal information from him. He was a vampire, a natural predator. He spent over one hundred years perfecting the art of pursuit. Once he decided that he wanted something, he didn't stop until he obtained it.

Damon wanted Elena more than he'd ever wanted anything or anyone. At the moment, he especially wanted to know where this hidden birthmark was located.

With a devious smirk plastered to his face, Damon rushed downstairs and drained several blood bags before rushing out the door. Today was a busy day and he needed his strength.

The first stop on his agenda was Milly's Floral Shop.

* * *

><p>"…and that's how you make a boutonniere!"<p>

Milly's scratchy voice rose in delight as Elena finished wrapping the rose, baby's breath, and greenery stems with green floral tape. She held up the lopsided project and scrutinized it. She'd accidentally cut the rose stem an inch shorter than it was supposed to be, so the baby's breath and fern leaf towered over the flower. Regardless of its flaws, Elena was proud of her boutonniere. She held it out to Milly for inspection.

The tiny woman's eyes crinkled with joy, and she gleefully clapped her hands together. "Oh, that looks beautiful, Elena! You've got a wonderful talent for creating boutonnieres."

"Thank you, Milly." Elena couldn't help but smile at the elderly woman. Standing four feet and eleven inches high with frizzy white hair and clear blue eyes, Milly was utterly adorable. The perpetual twinkle in her eye exuded her lifelong passion for flowers, an interest she was all too keen to share with Elena. In the mere hour that Elena had already spent in the shop, Milly had taught her enough information about her floral business that Elena felt confident she could run it by herself. She knew all of the flowers Milly ordered for her arrangements and what plants looked good together. She knew the best times to plant spring and summer flowers. She knew that Arthur Keller was the most trustworthy flower vendor in Mystic Falls, but she should never buy anything from Blanche Scoby; her plants were infested with earwigs. Elena now knew how to make a boutonniere, and in five minutes she would know how to make a corsage.

"Making a corsage is very similar to making a boutonniere," Milly said, spreading the materials on the wooden work table in the back room of the shop. "First you need to trim the stems of your flowers, and oh goodness, whoever could that be?"

The clanking sound of the bell string against the front door had startled Milly. She and Elena both looked away from the wooden table and towards the sliding panel that separated the work room from the rest of the shop. Milly patted Elena's hands before shuffling towards the shop.

"Excuse me dear, I'll be right back after I take care of this customer," she apologized over her shoulder. Elena smiled at the elderly shopkeeper.

"Take your time, Milly."

Milly disappeared from the back room as Elena leaned over and picked up a carnation with her left hand. She grabbed the scissors in her right hand and held the sharp end up to the flower stalk. As she carefully positioned the scissors around the stalk, she heard a velvety voice that sounded all too familiar.

"Ms. Tompkins, you look positively youthful this morning."

Elena's hand clenched atop the scissors so tightly that she accidentally snipped several carnation petals. Damon. What was he doing here? He didn't like flowers. If his black wardrobe indicated anything, Damon didn't like anything colorful. He would never set foot in a flower shop unless someone forced him to, and no one forced Damon to do anything. Elena was good at convincing Damon that he wanted to do various tasks, but when he was set against something, even she couldn't budge his opinion.

So why was he at Milly's Floral Shop?

Elena tiptoed closer to the dividing panel and craned her ears to hear Damon's conversation with Milly.

"…interested in planting a flower garden."

Elena's eyes widened. There was no possible way that Damon wanted to plant anything, let alone an entire garden. She worried that he was manipulating Milly for something. What that something was, Elena didn't know. Unable to remain quiet for any longer, she pushed the dividing panels to the side and stepped into the main room.

"Funny thing Damon, I never thought of you as a flowery guy."

Damon looked over at Elena and flashed her a wild grin that curled around the base of her spine. Drats. It took her far too long to calm down after he caressed her hand this morning, and here he was, showing up at her interview and causing her blood to bubble once again. Well, she was not going to be a slave to the feelings Damon spurred in her. Not today, and certainly not anytime soon.

Damon's cheeks hurt from smiling so widely. He couldn't help it. Elena stood right in front of him with her arms staunchly crossed and her cheeks flushed a rosy pink. She looked so distrusting of him being here in Milly's shop, and he loved that he had the ability to unsteady her.

Hell, he loved her. And he was actually interested in planting a flower garden. The boarding house property could use some color.

Damon's voice was light and cheery as he turned back to Milly. "Actually, it was Elena who recommended your place to me. From what I've seen so far," he said, looking around the room before his eyes settled on Elena's, "she hit it right on the mark."

The corners of Elena's mouth curled upwards. So that was Damon's game. He'd realized that she had some sort of birthmark on her body that Katherine didn't have, and he came here to tease her about it.

Too bad for Damon that she wasn't going to tell him where it was.

Milly's eyes lit up as she misinterpreted the smug smiles on Elena and Damon's faces to mean tender affection. "You know Elena, dear?"

"Oh yes, Elena's my best friend. She and I tell each other everything." Damon's emphasis on "everything" was clear as he tenderly held Milly's wrinkled hand between his own. "And you, Ms. Tompkins, can call me Damon." He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on it. Milly giggled at the gesture, and Damon smiled at her before winking at Elena.

Elena smothered a snort as she rolled her eyes at Damon's antics. Best friend? Try extremely irritating friend who she happened to be exceedingly attracted to.

Then again, that label didn't sound any better.

"Damon, it is an absolute pleasure to meet you. I would love to help you start your flower garden. Can you browse around the store for five minutes while I finish up with Elena?" Milly leaned towards Damon as if sharing a large secret. "She's interviewing me for the Mystic Falls newspaper. I'm teaching her how to make a corsage!"

"Are you really?" A wide eyed expression danced across Damon's face. "Do you mind if I join you? I've always wanted to learn how to make a corsage."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Damon shot a teasing glare at her. "Yes Elena, I think it's a unique and distinctive talent to know how to make a proper corsage." His tongue popped the syllables as he pronounced "unique" and "distinctive."

Milly looked back and forth between Elena and Damon. "Of course I'll teach you how to make a corsage, Damon. You and Elena can learn together. Here, come with me to the back room."

"Thank you for your generosity, Ms. Tompkins," Damon sincerely said, turning to follow Milly. He wrapped an arm around Elena's waist and pulled her along with him for several seconds before she wriggled out of his grasp.

"Interesting word choices, Damon," she murmured, refusing to acknowledge the sparks his fingers created when they touched her waist. He smirked and moved his mouth to her ear, hip lips barely grazing her skin.

"I'm just getting warmed up, best friend," he whispered. His minty breath sizzled around her ear and down to her neck, where every last nerve of Elena's wanted her to take Damon at that exact moment in the middle of the flower shop floor. She clenched her hands into fists to prevent herself from giving into that urge, moved her long hair behind her shoulders, and followed Milly into the work room. Damon shrugged his shoulders as he walked into the space after Elena. He stood next to her and casually brushed his arm against hers, all too aware of the energy that crackled between their bodies.

Milly appeared to be completely oblivious to Elena and Damon's perpetual tension as she gathered the necessary materials to make a second corsage. She wandered back to the work table with several carnations in her hands.

"Damon, you can make a corsage using red carnations," she explained, handing him the flowers. He took the stems from her gnarled hands and gently set them down on the table, making sure to touch Elena's hand in the process. She pulled it back as if she'd been struck by lightning. A smirk crossed his face as he looked up at Milly, who was in the midst of explaining the first step to corsage making.

"…cut each flower to a suitable length, and then use the floral tape to attach floral wire to the end of each stem."

Elena quickly grabbed the scissors, desperate to avoid additional contact with Damon. She'd let him have too much control over the situation, and she wanted some of her power back. She harshly snipped the flower stems from her own carnations, imagining Damon's influence over her lessening with every cut.

. A huge smirk spread across Damon's face. His appearance at Milly's Floral Shop had gotten his Elena all hot and bothered. Getting her to show him her secret birthmark would be easier than he'd anticipated.

Damon ducked as a green stem flew in his direction. He looked over at Elena, who gave him a nonchalant before turning back to her flowers.

"Careful Elena, I don't want you to mark my face with your extreme stem-cutting."

Wordplay. Elena was great at wordplay. She'd managed to make Damon speechless several times, the most recent one occurring earlier this morning. If it was wordplay he wanted, she would drown him in it.

"How do you know a mark will even be there, Damon?" she innocently asked, setting the scissors down on the table. "It seems to me that you're making this assumption based on mere speculation, not facts."

Damon stared at Elena, thrilled that she was stepping up to the plate, terrified that she'd beat him at his own game. "My instincts tell me that a mark will appear," he slowly said. "I don't know where it will be or what it will look like, but I fully intend to see it for myself."

"I doubt that."

"You underestimate my persistence, Elena."

"And you underestimate my resolve, Damon."

They'd turned to face each other over the course of their exchange. Blue and brown eyes bore into each other as two pairs of muscles tightened in defiance. Elena pursed her lips. Damon crossed his arms. Both bodies breathed roughly, heavily, each person equally refusing to give into the other.

The bell string clanked on the front door again, breaking Elena and Damon out of their stubborn trance. Milly clasped her hands together and teetered towards the dividing panel.

"Another customer!" she announced as she left the room. Damon slightly cocked his head towards the shop and held it in that position for several seconds. Satisfied that Milly would be busy with another customer for a decent while, he focused his gaze entirely on Elena.

Elena felt her heart pound as she matched Damon's stare. She'd never felt so deliciously trapped beneath a man's eyes before, and that knowledge was scarily exhilarating. Nothing, not even a tidal wave or a nuclear attack, could budge her from her position underneath Damon's blue eyes.

Damon felt equally snared by Elena. He wanted to move, wanted to touch her, wanted to confess his love to her, but her chocolate eyes floored him. He saw a mix of stubbornness and longing in them that mirrored his own, and he breathed a sigh of relief that Elena was warring with her emotions as much as he was in this situation.

Desperate to break the stillness, Damon noticed a lopsided boutonniere out of the corner of his eye. He leaned over and gently picked it up with his fingers. A faint trace of honey blended with the distinctive rose scent, and Damon knew that Elena had created this boutonniere. He handed it to her.

"Do you have a pin?"

Elena nodded. She could scarcely do anything but nod. Damon stood so close to her. She felt his chest rise and fall, gently brush her and move away, with every minty breath he took. Not wanting to break his eye contact, she reached to the table and fumbled around until her fingers found the boutonniere pin Milly had brought her. She lifted her hands up to Damon's chest, the boutonniere in one hand, the pin in the other.

"You're going to get holes in your shirt," she joked, trying to lighten the tension in the room. Damon attempted to coolly shrug, but his voice was low and rough with raw need when he spoke.

"I don't care."

Elena could barely breathe. He was so close. She held the rose to his chest and reveled in the toned muscle underneath her fingertips. She raised the pin to the taped stem and pushed it in. The pin moved slowly through the thickly wrapped stem, and Elena increased the pressure until it finally popped out on the other side of Damon's shirt. She attempted to maneuver the pin back to the boutonniere. Damon winced, and Elena knew she'd accidentally pierced his skin.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

Damon covered Elena's shaking hands with his own unsteady ones. He guided her through the remainder of the boutonniere process until the pin was firmly lodged in the upper part of the stem. His thumbs gently rubbed the tops of her hands, unwilling to let go of her so quickly. He knew he'd combust if he stopped touching her anytime soon.

Elena swore she'd combust if Damon didn't stop touching her. These tender caresses of his coerced her senses into overdrive, and she knew she'd explode from the sensation of it all. She wrenched her hands from his and hid them behind her back, desperate to tip the scales of their little game back into her favor.

"I hope I didn't mark your body when I stabbed you with that pin," she said, forcing a teasing look into her eyes. She had to keep the situation light. She had to act like that moment hadn't been one of the most intimate moments of her life.

Damon's eyes narrowed as he stared at Elena in confusion. Was she really going to stand there and act like that moment didn't change everything between them? Fine. He could play this game with her.

Damon plastered a deliberate, sly smile on his face as he advanced towards Elena. She stepped back until her body rammed into the wooden table. Damon placed his hands on either side of Elena and closed the distance between their bodies.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he offered, waggling his eyebrows. "Where's your birthmark, Elena?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Good. Show me instead."

"No, Damon."

His eyes scanned over her face. "You know I'm going to creepily stare at you constantly until I find it."

Elena chuckled. She used Damon's momentary surprise at her reaction to push back on his chest.

"You're never going to find it that way."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Oh." Elena picked her notebook off the work table, enjoying Damon's temporary silence. He was unbalanced again. Good.

Damon refused to be distracted from the main subject, and he moved in front of Elena to prevent her from leaving the work room. An exasperated look graced his features. "Why am I never going to find your birthmark that way?" he demanded.

Elena paused before answering Damon's question. She thought about revealing the exact location of her birthmark to him, but she decided that information would be too much to handle. Besides, she wanted to make him squirm, and she knew the best way to make Damon squirm was to give him as few details as possible.

"Let's just say that my birthmark – if it exists, which earlier today you were confident it did not – is located on a particularly intimate patch of skin."

Elena resisted the urge to laugh as Damon's mouth dropped open. Instead, she lightly pressed her lips to his cheek, said a soft goodbye, and walked out of the storage room.

For the second time that morning, Damon stood rooted to the ground. He lifted his fingers to his cheek and touched the spot where Elena's lips touched his skin. His body burned at the contact. He vaguely heard Elena say her goodbyes to Milly, insisting that she had to return to the newspaper to write the profile, but he could only concentrate on two recent developments.

Elena kissed him. True, it wasn't the fists in his hair, hands clawing his back, rockets' red glare lip lock he wanted it to be, but she kissed him. The heat between them was so fiery that her lips practically singed his cheek. He'd have to check his skin for a burn mark later.

She kissed him. Everything was good in the world.

Equally important, Elena admitted that her birthmark could be found near an "intimate" place on her body. Damon felt his jeans grow tight as he imagined all of the forbidden places this mark could be. Her breasts? Backside?

Down there?

A strangled moan slipped through Damon's lips at the thought of discovering a unique birthmark at that particular location on Elena's body. Between this thought and her showering in his bathroom, his libido was about to receive a huge workout.

Damon took several deep breaths before he walked out into the main room of the floral shop to talk to Milly. He was serious when he said he wanted to plant a flower garden at the boarding house. He would just have to do it at the same time he tried to find Elena's hidden birthmark.

It was going to be a long week.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm so flattered by the attention this story has received. Please let me know what you think of this chapter - your reviews mean the world to me!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

_She keeps Moet en Chandon_

_ In a pretty cabinet_

_ "Let them eat cake," she says_

_ Just like Marie Antoinette_...

Elena tapped her fingers against her steering wheel as she sang along with the Queen song at the top of her lungs. Dewdrop covered grass sparkled as the sun shone over the eastern horizon. Sultry, honeysuckle-scented air poured in from the open driver's window, whipping around her face as wisps of hair escaped her ponytail and tickled her cheek. She reached a hand to her face and casually tucked the tendrils behind her ear. Elena knew the wind would push the offending strands back to her face within the next ten seconds, but she didn't mind. She swore she heard a chorale of sparrows harmonizing with Freddie Mercury as she drove through the woods. The entire scene looked as bright and perky as a moment from a Disney movie, and Elena almost snickered at the thought.

She turned up the radio volume instead, determined to saturate her entire body in the goodness of Queen.

_A built in remedy_

_ For Khrushchev and Kennedy_

_ At anytime an invitation_

_ You can't decline..._

Elena had never felt so blissful at 7:02 on a Tuesday summer morning in her entire life.

Her unusual amount of happiness stemmed from several sources. Really, it did. Yesterday she finished writing the profile on Milly's Floral Shop in half the time it usually took her to complete an article. When she got home from work, she indulged herself and ordered her favorite Chinese takeout food for dinner. She'd spent the rest of her night reading Margaret Mitchell's _Gone with the Wind_, and this morning she'd discovered one of Brian's goofy drawings tucked away in a pocket of her messenger bag.

Her good mood had absolutely nothing to do with a certain raven-haired, blue eyed vampire who knew virtually nothing about her birthmark except for its existence.

Elena giggled. Yeah, right.

_Caviar and cigarettes_

_Well versed in etiquette_

_Extraordinarily nice..._

Elena knew she acted the exact opposite of extraordinarily nice when she kissed Damon's cheek in Milly's back room. She hadn't planned to kiss him. She originally intended to slip the small hint about her birthmark onto the end of their conversation and immediately walk out of the room, leaving Damon to fixate on the unknown location of her love mark. No touches, no kisses, no physical contact of any kind.

Well, no more physical contact of any kind. What right did Damon have to make pinning on a boutonniere so damned erotic? No right at all, that's what.

But he did. Damon expertly seized innocent moments and turned them into something far more suggestive, especially when Elena was involved. Her body ignited every time he turned his crystal gaze on her, his desire for her slamming into her harder than a sack of bricks. Elena tried every tactic she could think of to force her body to act normally around Damon, but counting backwards or reciting recipes in her mind were no match for his penetrative stare. Over the summer, the heat between them had become so powerful that even the lightest of touches was catalytic enough to start a fire.

And yet, despite knowing this, she still chose to kiss Damon's cheek yesterday. She originally intended the kiss to be nothing more than a device to throw Damon off his game. After all, he'd indicated multiple times that he would be plenty susceptible to any advances she made towards him. Elena knew that the chastest gesture from her would stun Damon's nerves, which is exactly what she wanted to do to him. A simple, meaningless kiss would toss the physical power of their connection right back into his handsome face.

Meaningless? Yeah, right. That kiss staggered Elena as much as it did to Damon, if not more. She would have smiled at the way she made his breath hitch in his chest if she wasn't having her own difficulties breathing. The five seconds her lips touched his smooth skin were a lingering five seconds of blazing, volatile combustion.

Elena's lips still burned. It had been twenty-one hours since she kissed Damon, and her lips still felt devoured by blistering, consuming heat.

They felt perfect.

Damn it, she wanted to kiss him again.

But only to distract him from pestering her about her birthmark. She wasn't a sadist. She could throw Damon a bone every now and then if it diverted him from the love mark.

_She's a killer queen_

_Gunpowder, gelatin_

_Dynamite with a laser beam_

_Guaranteed to blow your mind..._

Elena sang the last line extra loudly. Oh yes, she was guaranteed to blow Damon's mind. As long as she kept her cool around him and didn't allow herself to get swept away by his flirty gestures, she would win this little battle of theirs.

Elena snorted as she turned left onto the road that led to the Salvatore boarding house. She had to give Damon credit for the creative excuses he invented for his random appearances wherever she happened to be. Yesterday he showed up at Milly's Floral Shop claiming he wanted to plant a flower garden. Damon Salvatore, plant flowers? Hah! Damon would no sooner dirty one of his many John Varvatos shirts in a flowerbed than he would stake himself in the gut. And the man wore nothing but black clothing, for goodness sake! No way would Damon ever agree to voluntarily bring more color into the dark, brooding Salvatore domain. He wouldn't dare run the risk of ruining his badass image that he'd built up over the years.

Sprinkling fertilizer on pink petunias? Slightly less than badass. Elena giggled at the thought of Damon tenderly caring for his flowers wearing a stereotypical gardening uniform of an apron, green gloves, knee-high rubber boots, and a straw hat. That was a sight she would love to see.

The vision in Elena's mind quickly drifted to one of Damon wearing nothing but his straw gardening hat.

Elena exhaled loudly. She needed to get a grip on herself. Damon was nowhere near her and she still had stimulating visions of him. Well, she would have no more of these indulgent little fantasies. Damon was just a friend. He was just a very attractive, sneaky, unrelenting friend who was determined to see her birthmark...and she was turning into his driveway now to use his shower.

She would have to be on her highest guard around Damon from now on.

Elena pulled into the Salvatore driveway and turned her car off. She reached to her passenger seat and grabbed her filled messenger bag. When she looked up, her mouth dropped wide open.

The boarding house property was crawling with landscapers.

Elena struggled to close her gaping mouth as she slowly slid out of the car. She instantly jumped to the side as two sweaty, dirt-smudged men rushed past her with several bags of mulch in their arms. Several women purposefully strode by with shovels slung over their backs. Elena spun around and saw a taxi-colored digging machine barrel up the driveway and into the backyard. Sounds of barked orders and beeping machines filled the air.

Who were all of these people, and what were they doing at the Salvatore house at 7:05 on a Tuesday morning?

"...set them down right there, Jan, that's perfect. Hey, Frank, watch where you're driving that thing!"

Elena ignored her pounding heart as Damon's domineering voice echoed from the backyard. She looked down at her watch. Thirty-five minutes until she had to leave for work. It normally took her thirty minutes to get ready.

"Frank, I swear to God, if you run over those rosebushes you're going to dig that hole with your bare hands!"

Elena supposed she could go to work with wet hair this morning.

Tightly clutching her bag in her hand, Elena followed the sound of Damon's hollering voice to the backyard. When she rounded the corner of the house, her mouth fell to the ground. She couldn't move as she stared at the spectacle in front of her.

The once grassy lawn was now a huge dirt field. Construction vehicles of various sizes tramped over the mud, leaving trails of tread marks in their wake. The yellow digging machine that charged up the driveway now clawed into the ground, creating an oblong hole four times the size of Elena's car. Several pickup trucks sat parked at the edge of the lawn, and when Elena strained her eyes she saw their truck beds filled with slabs of stone tile. The backyard looked like a scene stolen directly from _Extreme Makeover: Home Edition_, and Damon stood centered in the action.

Elena watched Damon take charge of his backyard transformation. As always, he looked fantastic. He still wore all black, but he'd forgone his black shirt for a black tank top that hugged his frame like a second skin. Sweat coated his arms and face, and he wiped it from his forehead with a dirty hand. The muscles in his upper body rippled as he lowered his hand, and Elena sucked in a deep breath at the appetizing sight. Damon definitely knew how to rock the sleeveless shirt look.

A man who appeared to be the head landscaper approached Damon, gesticulating wildly in the direction of the bulldozer. Damon crossed his arms and nodded, listening to the man's every insistent word. He occasionally interrupted to ask the landscaper a question, an action that surprised Elena. This entire situation surprised her. The Damon she knew hated dirt, people invading his private space, and admitting that he didn't know everything. The man she saw in front of her had welcomed all of those dislikes into his backyard…and now he was laughing?

Elena narrowed her eyes. Who was this man who shared genuine laughs with unknown landscapers, and what did he do with Damon Salvatore?

As if he sensed her presence, Damon looked up and scanned the frenzied yard. His eyes locked onto hers, and his face erupted into a toothy grin. Elena felt her belly flutter as Damon clapped the landscaper's back and strode over to her. By the time he stood in front of her, her stomach felt as if it housed an entire family of fully hatched butterflies.

Damon beamed at her. "Hello, Elena," he said, his voice spinning those two words into verbal silk.

Elena tried to ignore the swarm of flutters that pulsed in her stomach. She pointed to the chaos on the dirt lawn. "What are you doing to the backyard?"

He raised an eyebrow. His boyish smile remained on his face. "What does it look like I'm doing, Elena?"

The way Damon extended the syllables of her name made Elena feel like a child being spoken down to. She resisted the urge to scold him for it, fearing he'd make a suggestive implication about the other ways and places he could say her name. His bedroom. Her bedroom. Pressed against the boarding house brick walls.

Her blood raced thinking about it.

Elena shook her head in attempt to rid it of her wild, completely inappropriate thoughts. She crossed her arms to literally get a hold of herself. "It looks like you're converting your nice, green lawn into a giant field of dirt."

"Yes, it does look like that."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" Damon asked, cocking his head to the side. "You're a reporter of sorts at the newspaper. Investigate."

Elena glared at him. "I don't have time for this, Damon." She tried to push past him, but he quickly stepped in front of her. She tried to walk the other way, but he shuffled to the side and blocked her path. When she continued to glare at him, he looked at her with a widened, naïve expression.

"Move, Damon. I'm going to be late for work."

"Okay, okay, I'll confess," he joked, stepping away from her and holding his hands up. "I'm installing a baseball field in the backyard. The next time it thunderstorms, I'm calling up all of my vampire friends and we're going to play baseball like the Cullen family. You can be Bella and umpire for us."

The scowl on Elena's face hardened. "You have got to be kidding me."

Damon cheekily shrugged. "I've already bought you a really cute umpire uniform to wear, but you'll have to provide your own pair of heels."

Elena bunched her shoulders up and slid under Damon's grasp. "Goodbye, Damon."

"I'm kidding Elena, calm down. I'll tell you the real reason the backyard looks like such a mess." He paused for dramatic effect. "I'm constructing a giant mud wrestling arena." Elena huffed and continued walking towards the boarding house, but she was quickly stopped when Damon grabbed her wrist and tugged her back to him. "Saturday night, you versus Katherine, no supernatural abilities allowed. I'll charge ten dollars a ticket, and we'll use the profits to buy ourselves a water slide that will drop you right into the mud."

"Me versus Katherine, huh?" Elena spat, tearing her wrist from Damon's grasp as she stormed towards the boarding house. "How would you tell us apart, Damon? After all, we look exactly alike."

His blue eyes glittered. "As of yesterday, I have reason to believe otherwise."

Elena whirled towards Damon. She marched right to him and prodded an imposing finger into his chest. She couldn't help but feel proud of the ripple of pleasure that shuddered through his body. "Look Damon, I have twenty minutes until I need to leave for work. Now tell me the truth about why your backyard has been invaded by landscapers."

Elena felt surprised to see the sudden traces of doubt creep into Damon's expression. He looked down at the ground and kicked at an invisible rock with his boot, shoving his hands in his jeans pocket. Uncertainty shadowed his features, and Elena realized he felt nervous to share the truth with her. After a moment of hesitation, he looked up into her eyes.

"I'm planting a flower garden."

Elena began to roll her eyes, but something about the vulnerability in Damon's expression convinced her to resist the urge. "You're planting a flower garden," she repeated.

"Yes."

"You, badass vampire extraordinaire, are planting a flower garden in your backyard."

The apprehension left Damon's face and was replaced by a small smirk. "Badass vampire extraordinaire?"

"You wear nothing but black and you hate getting dirty. Why are you planting a flower garden?"

Damon shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do all day. You're at work, Alaric ditched me for beach sex with Jenna, and I can't annoy Stefan when he's on a bromantic bonding trip with his teammates."

"So the next best option is to tear apart your entire backyard?" Elena shot a glance over Damon's shoulder at the digging vehicle. "What's the big hole for?"

"The koi pond."

A smile spread across Elena's lips. "You're adding a koi pond to your flower garden." The image of Damon feeding the koi fish while dressed in his garden attire flashed in her mind, and her smile cascaded into loud, raucous laughter. Damon gave her an incredulous look but didn't say anything, and his silence caused Elena to bowl over in hysterics. Her giggles subsided after a minute of belly-busting hilarity, and after wiping tears from her eyes she snuck a look at her watch.

"Shit," she muttered, dashing towards the boarding house. "I've got to go Damon; don't sneak in on me again!" She pulled the back door open and fled into the mansion, letting the door slam behind her.

Damon watched Elena disappear into the house. He heard her sprint up the stairs to his bedroom, strip off her clothes, fling them onto the floor, and turn on his shower. He exhaled and ran his hands through his hair. The real reason he'd decided to destroy his backyard for a bunch of rosebushes and a fish pond gnawed at him. He'd been honest with Elena when he said he was bored. Everyone he could tolerate in Mystic Falls had left him, and Elena spent her entire day at work. He originally went to Milly's Floral Shop yesterday with the simple intention to pester Elena about her birthmark some more.

But as Damon watched Elena interact with Milly through the shop window, a bolt of realization shocked him. He didn't want to have to seduce Elena to see her elusive birthmark. He wanted her to willingly reveal it to him herself. He wanted to watch her slowly peel off her clothing until she stood before him completely bare, permitting him to discover every unique mark on her body. He wanted Elena to feel something for him that was based on much more than their searing physical connection because he was in love with everything about her. True, their bodily responses to each other were nothing short of spectacular, but Damon wanted Elena's soul to feel the same amount of passion for him that his did for her.

Hell, he needed her to feel the same way about him.

Damon knew that he couldn't win Elena's heart through physical action alone. His stolen touches and flirty remarks weakened her bodily control, but her mental resolve against him had strengthened since her and Stefan's breakup. He needed to make a grand gesture towards her to show her that he wanted her for more than her body. He knew that Elena was delighted by flowers, and when he saw her face light up in Milly's shop, he knew what his grand gesture would be.

"Frank? Frank! Damn it Frank, you almost ran over Mr. Salvatore's rosebushes!"

The shouts broke through Damon's reverie, and he spun around to see Frank narrowly avoid the Hybrid Tea rosebushes he'd specially ordered from Milly's Floral Shop. He wanted the flower garden to be finished within the week so he could spend some alone time in it with Elena, and he had dropped a boatload of money to overnight the materials and landscapers to the boarding house. If they stuck to their schedules and worked like dogs, the garden and koi pond would be completed three days from now, Friday evening. That gave him two full days to be with Elena in his – no, her – no, their flower garden before everyone else returned from their respective trips. He'd have forty-eight hours to show Elena that he was worthy of seeing her birthmark.

Damon hoped he'd spend the better part of those forty-eight hours doing a lot more than seeing Elena's birthmark.

"Frank! Oh man Frank, you've done it now! Mr. Salvatore's not going to be happy with you!"

Damon's eyes narrowed at Frank, and he marched towards him to give him a scolding...or a lesson in driving construction machinery. As he crossed the dirt lawn, he heard the shower water turn off. Elena's feet quickly padded across his floor. Within two minutes, her footsteps pounded down the stairs and the front door slammed shut. A short while later her car hummed to life and rumbled out of his driveway. The smile that crossed his face softened his features. Beautiful, good Elena.

He absolutely adored her. She would know that by the end of the week.

* * *

><p>Elena pushed open the glass doors of her newspaper office and rushed to her cubicle. Her wet hair slapped her back as she shuffled through the narrow walkways, clutching her open messenger bag to her chest. She glanced at the large clock on the central wall.<p>

8:07 in the morning.

Elena groaned as she increased her pace. She knew she wouldn't get in trouble for being seven minutes late, but she didn't want people to think she was irresponsible. She'd worked hard to build a good reputation for herself at the newspaper, and she didn't want to ruin it in the last week of her internship.

As Elena rounded the corner, she plowed right into a tall, wiry body. She teetered in her black heels and fell backwards, hitting the carpet with a resounding thud. The contents of her messenger bag spilled onto the floor.

"God Elena, are you okay?"

Elena looked up and saw Brian standing over her with an anxious expression on his face. She nodded and attempted to sit up on her knees. A small arrow of pain shot through her side, and she winced at the feeling.

"There must be steel parts under that lanky frame of yours, Brian," she joked, rubbing her aching side. "I think I just ran into a brick wall."

Brian bent down to the floor and pushed his shaggy hair out of his face. Concern clouded his eyes. "Are you okay, Elena? You hit me pretty hard."

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Elena rotated her legs so she could sit on her heels. Brian still looked worried, and she smiled at him. "Honestly Brian, running into you is probably the least injurious injury I've received in a long time." She grew quiet as she pondered the truth of that statement. The various supernatural beings of Mystic Falls had certainly done a number on her the past couple of years. Smacking into Brian was a cakewalk compared to being mauled by vampires.

Brian's features softened. "Can I help you gather your stuff?" As he spoke, his hands drifted over to the crumpled tank top that Elena wore this morning. He gently picked it up and handed it to Elena. His fingertips lightly brushed hers as he passed her the cotton fabric and she looked up in surprise.

"Thanks."

"Of course."

Elena quickly collected the remainder of her belongings and hastily shoved them into her bag. She tried to not dwell on the way Brian's fingers gently grazed her own...or the fact that she didn't feel a spark when they touched. She liked Brian, she really did. He was more reserved than her other friends, but he was kind and sweet and treated her with respect. As the only two interns in the newspaper office, they'd grown closer throughout the summer. Elena considered Brian a good friend, and she thought that he felt the same platonic feelings towards her.

Lately he'd done some things to indicate otherwise. Like that finger brush. Or the cartoon he'd hidden in her bag this morning. Brian was a talented artist, and one of his responsibilities was to draw a weekly comic for the newspaper. Every now and then he doodled sketches of Elena in silly situations. In this morning's drawing, Elena held a giant machete which she used to maniacally slice into an entire stock of boutonniere flowers. He loved to tease her about her work snafus.

Elena shrugged off Brian's outstretched hand as she pushed herself to her feet. She readjusted her skirt and smoothed out the lines in the gray fabric. They walked to their neighboring cubicles together, and Elena hung her messenger bag up in the closet near her desk. She turned to face Brian.

"I found your drawing this morning," she said as the corners of her mouth curved upwards into a small smile. "I knew I shouldn't have told you about my stem cutting issues!"

Brian laughed. "Did you like it?"

Elena earnestly nodded. "I love all of your drawings, Brian. My favorite part was where you named my flower machete the Botanist Blade."

"The most effective supertools have fun names. You've got Batman with his Bat-gadgets, Wonder Woman and her Lasso of Truth…" Brian stopped talking as he looked up and saw Elena watching him with an amused look on her face. A light flush spread across his cheeks. "Sorry, I'll shut up now."

"No, it's okay," Elena quickly assured him, unable to keep the smile from her face. "I think it's cool that you know so much about superheroes and comic book stories and use that knowledge to turn me into a comic creation."

"Well, it's been a pleasure making you two-dimensional this summer, Elena." Brian sat down in his desk chair and swiveled around. "Are we still eating lunch together today at noon?"

"It's the last week we're going to work together, of course! I need to fill my quota of Brian time before the summer ends."

Brian's eyes lit up as he heard Elena's words. "Good. We should try to hang out outside of work. You know, try to be real life friends."

"Real life friends." Elena pretended to think about the idea. "I like the sound of that. You sure you have room in your busy life to spend time with me?"

Brian looked at a smudge on the wall for several seconds before he turned to face Elena. "I'm going to make the time to be with you, Elena. Meeting you was the best thing to happen to me all summer."

A brief flicker of panic fluttered through Elena's body. She forced a reassuring smile to her face as she sat down in her own chair. "I'm going to try to get some work done now, okay?"

Brian nodded. "Yeah, I should probably do something productive too."

"Hopefully not something too productive," she joked. Brian shook his head.

"I'll come to you if I need a distraction."

"Sounds like a plan." Elena watched Brian face his computer as she wheeled back to her desk and did the same. She mentally reassured herself that Brian's words didn't mean anything romantic. They were really good friends, and really good friends made time to see each other. Brian didn't harbor any tender feelings for her. He couldn't.

What would Damon say if he did?

Elena shook her head as she logged onto her computer. Damon had made it quite clear that he didn't like Brian. When Elena asked him for a reason why, the only example he managed to provide was that "he's a total snoozefest". Damon's answer was subpar in Elena's opinion, but he couldn't be pressed to give her a better example. She dropped the issue, but whenever Damon brought her lunch, he made sure to subtly insult something about Brian. Yes, Damon would certainly have a huge laugh if Brian had romantic feelings for her.

Which he didn't.

Elena's workday passed by quickly. After completing her ritual tasks of restocking the coffee supply, responding to the new emails she'd received, and confirming article deadlines, she made the few changes to her profile on Milly's Floral Shop her editor requested. She spent the rest of her day drafting her response to an editorial on high school extracurricular activities, writing the first paragraphs in her final column as an intern, and creating the layout for a "Best of the Bunch" Mystic Falls flower garden contest. She wondered if Damon's flower garden would be complete before the submission deadline in two weeks. By the time the clock struck 4:30 in the afternoon, Elena was more than ready to call it a day.

Brian walked her to her car as he did every day. She unlocked it and tossed her messenger bag onto the passenger seat before looking back at him. "So, will I find another drawing of myself in my bag tonight?"

"You'll just have to wait to find out," he mysteriously said. Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?"

"Oh really." He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it before shifting his weight from one leg to the other. Elena's eyes narrowed in concern.

"Are you okay, Brian?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." His words were unusually clipped. Elena decided not to press the issue further and went to slide into her car.

"If you're sure you're okay, I'm going to head home now. I'll see you tomorrow morning, Brian." As she sat down, she felt Brian's hand suddenly grasp her arm.

"Wait, Elena."

Concern washed over Elena as she stepped out of the car and closed the door. She leaned onto the vehicle. "What's wrong, Brian?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just…want to talk to you about something."

Elena reached her hand to touch Brian's back in what she meant to be a soothing gesture. She rubbed gentle circles around his shoulder blades and his muscles twitched underneath her fingertips. He looked down at the asphalt ground and kicked a small rock before looking at her.

"Remember how we talked about being real life friends this morning?" His brown eyes were unusually dark. Elena nodded, and he looked back at the blacktop as he wrung his hands together.

"We've become really close this summer, Elena. I meant it when I said that meeting you was the best thing that happened to me. You're smart and you're funny and you laugh at my drawings, and I really like spending time with you. And that's the thing," Brian said, looking up at her again. "I don't just want to be real life friends with you, Elena. I want to be more than your real life friend. I've felt this way for a while, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want it to affect the way we act around each other at the newspaper."

Elena was speechless for a moment before finally opening her mouth. "Brian, I really don't know what to say."

"Let me offer a suggestion," he quickly said, taking her hands into his. "We've never really spent time with each other outside of a work setting. There's this comic art exhibit opening tonight at a museum about an hour away from here. Come with me to it. We'll walk around, look at some fun drawings, and grab a bite to eat afterwards. If there's something more between us, great. If not, at least we'll get a decent showing and a good meal out of the evening. Will you come with me?"

Elena was still speechless. Brian's expression became apprehensive as he slowly released her hands from his. "You're not seeing someone else, are you?" he nervously asked. "I know you spend a lot of time with that Salvatore guy –"

"I'm not seeing him," Elena quickly murmured. It was true, she wasn't seeing Damon. She and Damon were just really good friends who happened to frequent uncomfortable situations together. Besides, he'd probably be busy tonight working on his flower garden. And Brian was a really nice guy. It couldn't hurt to spend some more time with him.

"It's okay, I understand," Brian softly said, breaking Elena away from her thoughts. As he turned to walk to his car, Elena grabbed his arm.

"Brian, I'd love to go with you."

He looked up. Excitement filled his eyes. "Really?"

"Really," Elena said. "It sounds like fun."

A huge smile erupted onto his face. "That's great, Elena. I'll pick you up at six. What's your address?"

Elena relayed the proper information to Brian, who hugged her goodbye before driving home to change. She slowly opened her car door and fell into the driver's seat. Anxiety cluttered her nerves. What was she thinking, going on a date with Brian? She hadn't been on a date since she and Stefan were together. What if the exhibit was horrible? What if she and Brian didn't have anything to say to each other? What if there was no spark between them?

What would Damon say when he found out about this date?

Elena shook her head and jammed the car key into the ignition. She turned it and the car hummed to life. Her relationship with Damon had nothing to do with her date with Brian. The two men resided in completely opposite areas of her life, and although Damon liked to think that he had influence over her, he didn't. Anyone could make her feel tingly inside, Brian included. Yes, she and Brian would have a fantastic time tonight, and Damon would give up his incessant pursuit of her, and she wouldn't miss his attentions at all.

Yeah, right.

* * *

><p>Elena glanced over at the clock on her nightstand. The glowing red letters spelled out 5:38. Brian would be at her house in twenty-two minutes, which gave her plenty of time to finish getting ready.<p>

In all honesty, Elena was mostly ready to go. She normally showered before her dates with Stefan, but this week she would have to skip that part of her pre-date ritual. She compensated for her lack of fresh smell by splashing a dash of her favorite nectar and cypress wood perfume onto her pulse points. The rest of her body wore a floral scented lotion that softened her skin.

Elena was determined to smell nice despite her water-less house.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Brian said that tonight was the opening night of the art exhibit, so Elena's outfit was a little fancier than it would be on a standard date night. She wore a silk, sleeveless purple dress that loosely draped around her curves. A built-in gold buckle adorned the waist of the dress. Gray feathered earrings dangled from her lobes, and a thick studded bangle jangled against her left wrist. Her feet wore simple black pumps. She thought her look was both pretty and professional.

Elena's cell phone buzzed as she applied a thin layer of lip gloss to her lips. She walked over to her bed and looked down at the caller identification screen.

Incoming Call, Damon Salvatore.

Panic shot through Elena's veins as she picked the phone up and cradled it in her hand. She knew that it wasn't wrong to go on a date with Brian, but she dreaded Damon's reaction when he heard the news. After several additional seconds of hesitation, she finally pressed the Call button.

"Come to my place for dinner tonight."

A mixture of guilt and amusement overwhelmed Elena. Did everyone want to eat dinner with her tonight?

"Damon, I –"

"I had a huge craving for spaghetti and meatballs, and I accidentally made more than necessary for just one person. I'm going to get fat if I eat all of this by myself, Elena. Come over here and share it with me."

"Damon, we –"

"I know you like my red sauce, Elena." His voice sounded perfect. It was light, cheery, and completely void of suggestive intentions. She felt horrible that she had to turn him down.

"Damon, I can't come over there."

"No problem, I can bring it to your place. I really don't want to get fat all by myself, Elena."

Elena inhaled deeply before speaking. She really didn't want to say these words to him, not when he sounded so…nice. "I already have plans for dinner tonight, Damon."

The phone line went deathly silent. Elena didn't know whether the call was lost or whether Damon had forgotten to talk. "Damon? Hello?"

"I'm still here." Edge now laced his tone. "What're you doing tonight, Elena?" He tried to say the words casually, but Elena heard the strangled tension in his voice. She pictured him standing at his kitchen counter, muscles tight with strain, as he tightly gripped the phone. When she finally answered his question, her voice was small.

"Brian asked me to go to dinner and an art opening with him."

Her words echoed back in her ears. The line was soundless again. Elena felt her heart begin to race. "Damon? Damon, are you there?"

No response. Elena looked at her phone screen, saw that the call hadn't been dropped, and held the phone up to her ear again. "Hello? Damon?"

She didn't hear an answer back. Pressing the End Call button, she sank down on her bed. Damon definitely wasn't in a good mood anymore. Of course he had to be nice to her on the one night she chose to spend some time with another guy. She couldn't – wouldn't – cancel on Brian just to eat home cooked pasta with Damon. Canceling on Brian would be ridiculous and unfair.

Maybe Damon would save her some leftover meatballs.

Elena swung herself upwards, stood up, and placed her phone in her black clutch. She added some finishing touches to her makeup and reapplied another layer of lip gloss. She looked in the mirror one last time and felt satisfied with her reflection. Grabbing her clutch, she walked down her stairs and into the living room. She'd read _Gone with the Wind_ while she waited for Brian to arrive.

The doorbell rang five minutes later. Elena dug her cell phone out of her clutch to check the time. 5:51. Brian was early and she was ready? Elena believed in positive foreshadowing, and this early arrival foretold a great evening ahead. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair one last time, smoothed out her dress, and opened the door.

Damon stood on her front porch, and he looked as mad and dangerous as hell itself. He'd showered since she saw him this morning, and his inky hair clumped together in various clusters. He wore his standard all-black ensemble, but tonight his v-neck shirt looked just a little bit tighter, etching out defined muscle lines onto the fabric. His eyes had deepened to a tempestuous sapphire that currently glared daggers at her.

He looked fantastic.

Elena didn't know what to do. "Damon, what are you doing here?" His lips pressed together in a firm line. He said nothing as he stormed into her house and closed the door behind him with a resonant thump. His eyes stared angrily into Elena's the entire time. She felt like she was drowning in the power of those blue orbs, and Damon was the only one who could rescue her.

Elena tried to speak to Damon again. "Damon, Brian's picking me up in nine minutes. You need to go." Her heart pounded so loudly that she knew he could hear it. The way he looked at her made her feel like she was the most wanted thing in his world.

Damon stepped towards Elena. She instinctively moved backwards. He took another step towards her, and she took another matching step backwards. They stood still and stared at each other. Just when Elena opened her mouth to fill the silence, Damon strode towards her, backed her into her living room wall, and mashed his lips against hers in a brutal kiss.

Shock coursed through Elena's blood as she attempted to push Damon away. He growled at her efforts, a fierce, guttural growl, and he slammed his body against hers as he ravished her mouth. His lips were firm and demanding, and Elena fisted her hands into his hair to hold on for dear life. Damon was hot and hard and forceful, and he took her mouth with a primal need that launched rockets of sensation through Elena's blood.

The kiss was over as quickly as it began. Damon wrenched his lips from Elena's mouth and staggered several steps away from her. Elena absentmindedly reached up and ran her fingers through her rumpled hair. They both breathed heavily as their eyes dripped with want and need and unattainable desire. The living room air snapped from their electrical energy.

Anger still saturated Damon's eyes. When he finally spoke, his voice was perilously low. "You think about that kiss before you decide to go on any dates with any other men." He slowly backed away from Elena until he spun around on his heel, strode to the front door, and slammed it shut behind him.

Elena couldn't feel her limbs. She sank to the floor and touched her hands to her lips. She'd never been kissed like that before. She didn't know any kiss could be like that, so reckless and controlling and positively unrivaled. No other kiss would top the one she just shared with Damon.

She shakily stood up and made her way to the couch. Everything would change now that they had kissed. Their teasing, flirtatious relationship automatically shifted to something deeper when Damon claimed her mouth with his. She'd always treated his affections as part of the game, as cards he'd play to get a rise out of her, but there was nothing playful about their connection. Elena realized that she'd hurt Damon when she said she was going out with Brian. She broke the rules of their mutually exclusive game, and he'd lashed out in the most asserting, passionate way possible.

Elena touched her fingers to her lips once more. Her skin radiated with heat and sparks.

Damon would be on her mind tonight.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter! Angry Damon = extremely sexy Damon, no? Elena's got her work cut out to atone for her actions... Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it!<br>**

**I've got a question for everyone. _Birthmark_ is the second story I'm working on - the first is _Touch Me_. If you haven't read it yet, please do! _TM_ is generally angstier than _Birthmark_, but it's also got some steamy Delena scenes (if I do say so myself). Anyways, my question is this: would you rather my next update be another chapter of _TM_ or of _Birthmark_? I haven't updated _Touch Me_ in a reaaaaally long time because I've been having so much fun writing _Birthmark_, but if everyone's antsy for a _TM_ update, that is what you shall receive!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Elena? Elena, did you hear me?"

Elena jumped out of her swivel chair. She looked up and saw Brian standing next to the edge of her cubicle. Annoyance dusted his concerned expression, and he crossed his arms.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" he asked again, leaning against her desk. Elena stared at him blankly. She closed her eyes for several seconds. Small waves of relief gently washed over her mind. She sighed, grateful for their comfort.

She felt so tired.

Last night's…date….with Brian had been unexpectedly draining. He'd been a perfect gentleman the entire night. He rang her doorbell at 6:00pm on the dot with a bouquet of purple tulips in his hand. He opened every door for her: his car door, the art gallery door, the door to the cozy Italian restaurant he took her for dinner. He told her funny stories about the artists featured in the exhibit. He asked her questions about her family and interests. He was polite. He was charming. He was wonderful.

Elena hated him for it.

She should have felt that spark with Brian. God, she wanted to feel that spark with him more than anything. It made sense for her to be with someone like Brian, someone patient and kind and smart and good. He was safe, too. He would never put her in harm's way. She would never feel scared of how strongly she felt for him.

He would never storm into her house nine minutes before another man was supposed to pick her up and derail her senses into dangerous, thrilling oblivion with a searing kiss.

Damon.

Fuck.

Brian walked her to her front door last night at 11:08. He gave her a strong hug, shyly said "I'll see you tomorrow," and drove away. As soon as his car left her eyesight, she ran into her house, sprinted up her stairs to her bedroom, and threw herself onto her bed. Hot tears and mascara residue stained her comforter as silent sobs wracked her tiny frame. She curled herself into a ball and hugged her knees to her chest. She wanted to feel as small as humanly possible. She wanted her physical smallness to reflect the emotional smallness she'd felt all night. She upset Damon by going on a date with Brian, and by going on a date with Brian, she gave him false hope that there could be anything more than friendship between them.

After last night, Elena only wanted "more than friendship" from a single person. A raven-haired, blue-eyed vampire who haunted her dreams with bruising kisses and rejected looks.

Elena didn't receive a lot of sleep last night.

Her unexpected realization that she wanted to be with Damon was startling. She'd spent the majority of their relationship denying the intense connection she felt to him. After all, he was Stefan's brother and the former lover of her vampire doppelganger. Elena really didn't want history to repeat itself in terms of the Stefan-Katherine-Damon love triangle. She wanted to create her own story with her own love interests. Being involved with two brothers resembled déjà vu a little too closely for Elena's preference. And besides, Damon personified the qualities she typically wasn't attracted to in a boyfriend. He was reckless and forceful. Matt, Stefan, and even Brian were gentle and reserved. The three of them were logically healthier, better choices for her to be with.

Elena was beginning to realize that being attracted to someone had less to do with logic and reason and more to do with feeling and emotion.

She should have apologized to Damon. This morning she should have driven to the boarding house, sought him out, begged him for his forgiveness, and admitted her feelings for him. She knew it was in both of their best interests if they put an end to this lover's game they'd become so good at playing. They needed to do away with their pretenses and start being upfront with each other if they wanted to have a strong relationship.

Unfortunately, Elena chickened out. She felt so ashamed of her role in their power games that she couldn't face Damon. This morning she'd forgone a shower at the boarding house and drove straight to work. Her matted hair rested in a tight bun at the nape of her neck. She reeked of the floral lotion she slopped on her skin in attempt to mask the stench of yesterday's grime. A fresh stick of deodorant sat at the bottom of her messenger bag in case she needed to reapply it throughout the work day.

"Elena, you're spacing out on me again."

Elena blinked. She straightened out in her chair and swiveled to face Brian. The lines on his face were hard as he warily eyed her.

She sighed. "I'm sorry, Brian. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."

Brian's face softened as he crouched down. His eyes leveled with hers. "I've got to be honest with you Elena, you don't look so good."

"I don't feel so good, Brian," she murmured. He immediately lifted his wrist to her forehead, held it there for several seconds, and frowned as he pulled it away.

"Your skin is a little warmer than it should be, but I don't think you have a fever," he softly said. "Maybe you should go home and get some rest. I'll cover for you."

Elena knew that rest wouldn't cure her of her remorse-induced symptoms. Only talking with Damon would do that. "No, it's okay. It's the last week, I'll tough it out." She forced a small smile onto her face. "What kind of a journalist would I be if I didn't power through fatigue?"

"A well-rested journalist."

"That's a horrible punch line, Brian," she joked, trying to lighten the mood. He chuckled.

"I'll spend the entire day thinking of a better one." The light expression on his face morphed back into one of unease. "If you need anything, please let me know. I don't like seeing you hurting like this."

Elena imagined that her and Brian's definitions of "hurting" greatly varied. "Thanks, Brian. I'm going to get some work done now." He nodded and gave her one last apprehensive look before walking back to his own cubicle.

A lengthy sigh breathed out of Elena's lips. She dreaded the conversation she would have to have with Brian about them being nothing more than friends. He was an insightful guy and probably already knew that was going to be the case, but she still had to say the words, and the sooner she did the better. Adding that talk to the one she needed to have with Damon, Elena realized that today would include two extremely personal conversations.

Today was going to be a long day.

Elena meant it when she told Brian she was going to get some work done, but her mind was in a daze the entire morning. She couldn't focus on her assignments. When she tried to write another paragraph in her final column, the words evolved into an apology to Damon. Her head pounded as her fingers flew across the keyboard, producing heartfelt statements of regret and repentance. She poured her soul onto the computer screen. Every tiny confession and unexpressed feeling needed to be said. He had to know how she felt.

Elena glared at the clock for what seemed like the millionth time that morning. 11:57. Her limbs felt restless and antsy, as if magnetic force was trying to pull her body from the office. She knew she needed to be elsewhere. She wouldn't get anything accomplished until she straightened out the mess she'd made.

New energy spurred through Elena's veins as she shut down her computer, forcefully stood up, and grabbed her messenger bag. She strode over to Brian's desk and rapped her knuckles on the hard surface. He jumped in his chair and whirled around to face her.

"I'm heading out, Brian. I'll be in at the normal time tomorrow morning."

Brian stood up and looked down at Elena. "Do you want me to walk you to your car?"

Elena fiercely shook her head, probably a little harder than necessary. "No, but thank you for offering. I'll see you tomorrow."

She spun around and walked out of the newspaper office. Her body gained more power with every step she took. When she arrived at her car, she quickly unlocked it and tossed her bag on the passenger seat as she slid into the driver's seat. She slammed the door shut and turned the key in the ignition. The engine hummed to life. The pleasurable, indomitable feelings of rebellion purred through Elena's blood as she sped out of the parking lot and towards downtown Mystic Falls.

After all, she was skipping out on work to go be with a man who made both her body and soul pulse with life.

As Elena cruised through downtown Mystic Falls, she spotted Milly's Floral Shop out of the corner of her eye. An idea flashed across her mind. She navigated her car into a parking space in front of Milly's store and hopped out of the vehicle. The bell strand clanked against the glass door as she walked into the store.

Milly, who sat at the front counter with a pair of needles and a half finished sweater in her hands, looked up at the clashing sound of the bells. A large smile spread across her wrinkled face when she saw Elena, and she quickly laid her knitting project next to the cash register. "Elena darling, it's so good to see you! What brings you into the shop today?"

Elena couldn't help but smile back at the joyful woman in front of her. "Milly, I need to buy a present for someone."

"A present, eh?" Milly asked, her white eyebrows rising. "What kind of a present?"

"An apology present…for Damon. What do you think he'd like?"

Milly clapped her gnarled hands together as she released a jubilant squeal. "Oh my dear, I know the perfect thing for the handsome Mr. Salvatore," she twittered as she led Elena into the greenhouse section of the store.

Elena emerged from Milly's store twenty minutes later with a potted cherry blossom tree in her arms. Milly had indicated that Damon didn't have any cherry blossom trees in his flower garden designs, insisting that every good garden needed a cherry blossom tree and that cherry blossom trees were the perfect place for lovers to meet. Elena giggled as she thought of the way Milly's eyes twinkled as she said that last part. She wrestled the tree into her backseat, slammed the door shut, and sped towards the boarding house.

Trees blurred by as Elena pressed her foot firmly on the gas pedal. She reworked her apology speech in her head, replacing adjectives and shifting sentences around a half dozen times until they flowed together beautifully. As a writer, she knew how to manipulate the English language to her advantage, to rearrange the words behind ideas and emotions until they expressed exactly what she needed to say. When she had no inspiration, her gift with language frustrated her, and the works she produced were often cold and stale. When she was inspired, her words burned with heartfelt passion.

Elena suddenly found herself very inspired by her feelings for Damon. The apology she'd formed in her head was no insincere production, but a revealing confession of her deepest emotions – emotions that he alone stirred within her.

She hoped he'd accept it.

An abrupt bout of nervousness bubbled in Elena's stomach as she pulled up to the Salvatore boarding house. She felt uneasy as doubtful questions raced through her brain. What if he didn't accept her apology? What if he told her to go to hell and never speak to him again? She wouldn't blame him if he reacted that way, given how quickly she'd rejected his advances.

"No," Elena firmly said as she sat in her car. Damon would accept her apology. She would see to it that he did, even if she had to grovel and beg and do a sexy dance for him.

Well, maybe not a sexy dance. Elena knew that as much as Damon would appreciate a…striptease…of sorts…from her, she didn't want to appeal to him that way. Eventually? Yes. Today? No. She already knew that she and Damon had a strong physical connection, but she wanted their emotional connection to be the basis of their relationship from this day forward.

First she had to apologize to him.

Elena stepped out of the car and opened the door to the backseat. She placed her hands on either side of the cherry blossom pot and gently lifted the tree out of the car. After she used her hips to close the car door, she firmly wrapped her arms around the pot and walked towards the boarding house backyard.

Sounds of construction filled the air. The beeps and whirrs of the various machines bounced between the trees that surrounded the property, intermixing with the loud shouts of the landscapers. Elena craned her ears, but she didn't hear Damon's soft, velvety voice amongst the noises.

That didn't mean he wasn't in the backyard, though.

Elena gingerly stepped to the edge of the boarding house that led into the backyard. She leaned back against the brick wall and inhaled a deep breath inward. She breathed the air out slowly, trying to exhale some of her tension. Her nerves felt jumpy, but she knew she had to do this. She had to be the one to approach Damon and show him that she was willing to match his efforts to improve their relationship.

Elena softly counted to three, tightly clutched the potted tree, and took a step around the house corner. Her eyes scanned the premise in search of Damon.

He wasn't there.

Dozens of landscapers walked about the Salvatore property, each one with a specific task to carry out. The majority of them stood around the large hole in the ground, lining it with pond underlayment and liner. Elena recognized the hole as the location of the koi pond. Elsewhere, another group of people dug smaller, plant sized holes in the earth surrounding the koi pond. The head landscaper Damon had talked to yesterday stood in between the two groups, barking orders at people on either side of him. If anyone knew where Damon was, it would be this man.

Elena walked over to the head landscaper, careful to stay out of the way of the workers. She shuffled the cherry blossom tree fully into her right arm and tapped him on his shoulder with her left hand. He turned around. His eyes narrowed when he saw Elena.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"Elena," she quickly offered, shifting the tree into her left arm so she could shake the landscaper's hand. "Elena Gilbert. I'm a friend of Damon's. I was here yesterday?"

He gave Elena's hand two rough shakes before dropping it. "Mr. Salvatore's not here at the moment, Miss Gilbert."

"Do you have any idea when he'll be back?"

The landscaper wiped his brow with his dirty shirt sleeve and shrugged. "Haven't seen him all day." His eyes focused onto the cherry blossom tree. "What's that?"

"An apology."

He raised an eyebrow. Elena felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"An apology tree," she clarified, immediately realizing how dumb she sounded. "I mean, obviously it's a tree – it's a cherry blossom tree, I just bought it at Milly's – but it's really an apology for Damon."

The landscaper's mustache twitched. "I ain't ever seen a tree as an apology before."

"I've never given a tree as an apology before, either. " Elena couldn't tell whether the landscaper was amused by her or whether he thought she was an idiot. "Is there any way you can work the tree into the flower garden plot, Mr.…"

"Lawn," he said, pointing at the black pickup truck behind her. Elena twisted her neck and read the capital letters printed on the truck doors: JOHN LAWN LANDSCAPING.

"Your name is John Lawn and you work in a landscaping business?" she dryly commented. "That's convenient."

John Lawn's mustache twitched again. "Hasn't hurt me none." He glanced at the cherry blossom tree before he faced the group of people digging holes in the earth. His eyes scanned the layout for several seconds before he took the tree from her hands and marched over to the holed ground. He jerked his head back towards Elena and motioned for her to follow him. She nodded and sidestepped around the assorted construction activities until she stood next to John Lawn.

He gestured towards the various sized holes in the dirt. "A couple of rosebushes were originally supposed to go here, but I think the layout of the place would look better with a tree. That alright with you?"

Elena looked down at the holes. She hadn't the faintest idea what to look for in a proper flower garden design, and she told John Lawn so. He chuckled, a low, rumbled sound.

"I'll tell Mr. Salvatore you stopped by with an…apology tree," he said, handing the cherry blossom pot to a nearby worker. Elena watched as the young man stared at the tree and then stared at her before scampering off to set it down next to the other plants. She turned her gaze back to the worksite in front of her. The backyard would appear chaotic to an untrained eye, but Elena knew that a project of this nature required a carefully executed plan. Everyone had a specific task to complete. Everyone knew where they belonged.

Elena wanted to be a part of this group.

She tapped the back of John Lawn's dirt and sweat stained shirt. He rotated to face her, a curious expression on his tanned face.

"Can I help?"

* * *

><p>Damon slammed his foot down on the gas pedal of his 1967 Chevy Camaro and screeched down the highway. The pungent scent of gasoline and burnt rubber wafted through his nostrils as the highway wind disheveled his raven hair. He attempted to smirk at the wild image he presented to the world, but his face contorted into an ugly grimace.<p>

His long fingers clenched the steering wheel as his car blistered down the tarmac, effortlessly rocketing past all other vehicles on the road. The speedometer needle tipped on the upper edge of the ninety miles per hour mark. Damon squashed his foot down further on the pedal, practically pressing it through the floor. Satisfaction briefly fluttered in his veins as he watched the needle creep past the one hundred. He wanted to go fast, needed to go so fast that he could trick himself into believing that he was free from everything he hated about himself. His tempestuous emotions. His quick temper.

His obsessive love for her.

Damon's eyes briefly registered the blurred white words against the green backdrop of the road sign. Richmond, 20. Mystic Falls, 95. At the speed he was driving, he would reach Mystic Falls by dinnertime.

Not too shabby, considering he'd woken up in Key West, Florida this morning.

As soon as Damon stormed out of Elena's living room yesterday, he tore back to his house, jumped into his Camaro, and sped out of Mystic Falls. His body shook during the entirety of the drive as flashes of his encounter with Elena plagued his mind. He remembered everything about that moment: the pleading look in her chocolate eyes when she first saw him on her doorstep, the brief show of defiance as they synchronously moved towards the living room wall, the way her mouth opened in a silent squeak as he crashed his lips onto hers, the way the nerves in his scalp burned when she fisted her hands into his hair. He'd wanted to claim her, possess her, do everything within his power to convince her that he was the right answer she kept trying to ignore.

She must have been mad if she seriously thought that she could go on a date with anyone but him. What kind of twisted torture was she trying to inflict on him? Was Elena's defiance a test to see how badly he wanted her? For God's sakes, he was building her a flower garden just to make her happy! Didn't she know that he wouldn't do this for anyone else?

"Of course she knows," Damon thought with a snarl. Even if Elena didn't yet know that he was constructing the flower garden for her, she did know him well enough to realize that he didn't make grand gestures. He was a "vampire badass extraordinaire," as she'd called him. He wore a wardrobe of black and drank blood to survive. The idea of a flower garden appealed to him only because it appealed to her. Somehow, she had to know that. Hell, he could guarantee that on some subconscious level, she knew that his only weakness was her, and what did she do with this information? She accepted a date with another man and flaunted it in his face, that's what!

Damon forced himself to loosen his grip on the steering wheel for fear of breaking it. He loved that his Elena was a little spitfire. She conquered every challenge he threw at her and always issued him one of her own. But going with the intern to dinner and an art show was absolutely unacceptable. She was playing with forces she didn't quite understand, and her actions would have consequences. He was sick of pretending that Elena's actions had no effect on him, because then he had to let her off scot-free. He wasn't indifferent to her, not in the slightest, but he also couldn't continue letting her get away with her cruelty. He wouldn't look into those doe eyes and immediately forgive her for her unkindness, not this time.

This time, Elena would have to grovel for his forgiveness.

Damon felt slightly better about his newfound resolve as he turned off the highway and onto the boarding house's lengthy driveway. The Camaro's roar subsided to a quiet purr as it moved towards the mansion. He looked at the clock on his dashboard and was pleased to see the digits glow 5:30. If the landscapers stuck to their agreed schedule, they should have left thirty minutes ago.

Perfect. He didn't feel like talking to anyone anyway. Not yet. Not before he drank his dinner.

As Damon inched closer to the boarding house, he saw a car parked on the side of his driveway. Elena's car. He released a growl of frustration. Why was she here? He didn't want to see her now. Hell, he didn't know how he'd respond if he saw her now. He knew how he wanted to react – as impassively as possible – but he was never any good at sticking to his plans when it came to her.

Besides, he was counting on her to avoid him for at least the rest of the day. He needed that time to establish his guard against her, that supposedly impenetrable guard that she always managed to pierce with a mere glance. Time would make him stronger. Time would help him stand his ground and protect his pride against this slip of a girl who'd wormed her way into his heart.

Resigned, Damon parked his car in the garage. He attempted to calm his pulsing blood by doing something mundane, and he slowly pulled the plastic cover over his beautiful Camaro, but the routine activity did nothing to quell his pounding nerves. Elena was somewhere within the vicinity of his house. Her herbal and honey scent hung in the air, taunting him of his bittersweet desire for her. He wanted her, but he wouldn't have her…not until she admitted to wanting him.

Damon opened the door that led into the garage and walked into the boarding house. He entered the study expecting to find Elena waiting for him on the sofa, but she was nowhere in sight.

He poked his head into the kitchen.

No Elena.

Confused, Damon zipped upstairs. He pushed open Stefan's bedroom door, but the room was empty. His eyes narrowed as he stomped down the hall and eyed his own bedroom door. He craned his ears towards his bathroom, but he didn't hear the shower water running. Releasing a huff of breath, he shoved at his bedroom door and burst into the room. It, like every other room in the boarding house, was oddly void of Elena.

"Worst game of hide and seek ever," Damon muttered as he crossed the mahogany floorboards to his dresser. He sniffed at his armpits, shuddered in disgust, and furiously applied a layer of Old Spice deodorant to the offending area. As he recapped the container, he heard a tinkling laugh chime through his cracked window. He knew that laugh.

He would travel to the ends of the earth and back to hear that melodious sound directed at him.

His head snapped up as he flashed over to his window. He peered through the glass and into the backyard. His eyes widened at the unexpected sight.

Elena was digging holes.

In his backyard.

His Elena was digging holes in his backyard.

Damon blinked several times, but every time he opened his eyes, the image remained the same. Elena, wearing an oversized black t-shirt, denim shorts that hugged every inch of her behind, and her scuffed Converse sneakers, was digging holes in his backyard. She thrust her shovel into the earth of the flower garden, gathered a heap of dirt, and tossed it into a wheelbarrow to her right side. Thrust, gather, toss. Thrust, gather, toss. An entire day's worth of sweat poured from her body, and her muscles contorted with a fatigue that alluded to an entire day's worth of labor. Damon guessed that she'd been digging holes for no less than five hours.

He wondered if she'd actually been at his house for hours, if she had left work early to be with him. A strange satisfaction flickered through his veins before he forced it out of his system. Damn it, he was mad at her. Furious, even. He should storm out to his backyard, rip that shovel from her hands, and demand answers from her. Yes, that was exactly what he'd do...after he observed her for a few more minutes.

Damon leaned against the cool glass of the window and observed Elena at work in his backyard. He imagined it wasn't difficult for her to convince John Lawn to let her contribute something to this project. Elena charmed everyone she met, and she hated feeling useless in a group setting. Of course she would want to be a part of this flower garden project. Damon realized that he could use Elena's involvement to his advantage. The flower garden was for her. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have her opinion on the layout of things and maybe incorporate more of her favorite flowers into the design.

She could even name the koi fish.

For the first time that day, a genuine grin flashed across Damon's face as he watched Elena stake the shovel into the ground. She lifted the hem of the black shirt to her face and wiped her sweaty brow. Damon's breath hitched in his throat as the fabric rose, slowly revealing inch by inch of Elena's tanned skin. His eyes focused on a bead of sweat that slithered down her back, slipping over every ridge and dent in her spine, before disappearing underneath her denim shorts. His jeans grew unbearably tight as his blood furiously shot to his loins. Damon knew he needed to look away and stop torturing himself, but he helplessly looked on as Elena cocked her hip to the side and rested her right arm on the top of the shovel.

She drove him mad. Damon gripped the windowsill to prevent himself from rushing to her side and snaking his arm around the curve of her waist. He wanted to pull her to him and hear her gasp at the surprise at it all. He wanted to dip his mouth to her skin and lick every last drop of sweat from her body. He'd always dreamt that he would have Elena in the completed flower garden, but he wanted to rip that oversized shirt from her frame and take her now. What the hell was she doing wearing such a huge shirt, anyway? He couldn't remember her wearing it before, and he hated to admit it, but he remembered everything she wore. Elena didn't wear a lot of black clothing, and she definitely didn't wear oversized t-shirts. Hell, that shirt would fit him a lot better than it fit her.

Damon stared at Elena's shirt for several seconds before realization smacked him upside the head.

Elena didn't own that black shirt. He did.

Elena Gilbert, source of his sleepless nights, spark to his internal fireworks, fucking love of his eternal life, was wearing one of his black shirts.

In an instant, Damon flashed to the backyard. His sudden movement created a forceful gust of wind that blew across Elena's back. She spun around, knocking the shovel over in the process, and clutched her heart when she saw Damon standing a foot away from her.

Elena thought Damon looked fantastic when he showed up on her doorstep last night. She quickly decided that fantastic had met its match. His black shirt – one that matched the one she'd borrowed from his drawer this afternoon – clung to his torso like a second skin, accentuating every muscle he'd worked for over the years. His dark jeans rested comfortably atop his defined hipbones. He looked like a rock star on the prowl for a wild time.

Oh, the things groupies would do for Damon.

Elena mentally chastised herself for thinking of Damon that way. Yes, Damon was the most gorgeous piece of man meat in the country, but he was worth so much more than his good looks. Damon was smart, witty, passionate, and devoted. Anyone would be a fool to not want him around. She was a fool for ignoring his positive qualities for so long.

When Elena snuck a look at Damon's face, his expression mirrored that last thought. He was mad at her for treating him so flippantly. Everything about his demeanor expressed his frustration towards her – the rigidity of his jaw, the firmness of his stance, and especially the way his eyes had darkened into a sapphire inferno as he glared at her.

Oh yes, Damon was royally pissed off.

He and Elena warily eyed each other, each of them waiting for the other to speak first. Elena opened her mouth to speak, but Damon interrupted her before she said anything.

"No plans with the intern tonight?"

Elena winced at the harsh tenor to his voice. She took a slow step away from him, careful to avoid any of the new holes in the ground. Of all the things she thought he might say – "What the hell are you doing here?" and "Go home." came to mind – she never expected him to say those six words.

She gave her head a small shake. "None." She wanted to say so much more, needed to say so much more, but the dark way Damon looked at her stole her breath away.

He laughed, an empty, hollow sound. "Trouble in paradise already?" he sneered.

"There was never any paradise, Damon."

"Pity, I thought you two were an adorable couple," he snarled, his tongue elongating every syllable in "adorable." "Shows what I know about compatibility."

The double meaning in his words was obvious, and shame spiraled through Elena's body. She tried to go to him, but her legs felt like lead. "Damon, I –"

He spun on his heels and thundered towards the boarding house. "Go home, Elena," he called over his shoulder. "You go home and call your intern, and I'm going to go into my home." He craned his neck over his shoulder and shot her a wicked smile. "I wonder what Andie's doing tonight. Ooh, do you want to double date?"

Elena felt as if someone had sucker punched her right in the stomach. Her lower lip quivered as she willed herself not to cry. She knew Damon hated Andie. The thought of him dating Andie just to get his revenge on her made her insides boil. Her legs suddenly felt charged with furious energy, and she sprinted after Damon's retreating form.

"Hey!" Elena grabbed the neck on the back of Damon's shirt and gave it a good yank. He whirled around. She fisted her hands in the front of his shirt and tugged it down. Their eyes were level. Their faces were inches apart. The rage that glittered in his eyes matched the determination that radiated from hers.

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. My. Shirt." Damon's voice dripped with malice. His eyes shot daggers at Elena. She deflected his attack with a single word.

"No."

Damon's hands torched upwards to cover Elena's. He blanketed his hands over hers and squeezed them tighter than necessary. Elena's lips contorted in a brief flash of pain, but she refused to let go of his shirt. Her heart thumped forcefully against her chest as she glowered at Damon. He would not intimidate her into backing down. She would not abandon her resolve.

She would resist the urge to bite down on that lower lip of his until he moaned her name.

Damon tightened his grip on Elena's hands. He knew he was hurting her, but he needed her to let go of his shirt so he would be forced to stop touching her. Every inch of his body felt as if it was being consumed by fire. He would not continue to let this girl burn him.

He would resist the urge to strip his shirt from Elena's body and mindlessly fuck her against the brick wall of the boarding house.

Damon wrenched Elena's hands from his shirt and fled to the boarding house back wall. He pressed himself firmly against the rough brick and attempted to calm his erratic breathing. He looked up and saw Elena struggle to subdue her own rough gasps. When she made a motion to approach him, he held up his right hand and faced his palm to her.

"You need to stay over there."

Elena's eyes widened. Damon's voice was one breath shy of a throaty moan. She couldn't tell whether he wanted to kill her or kiss her, but she certainly wanted to do both a second ago. Thank the gods he had the strength to move away. They needed to air their grievances tonight, and Elena knew it was best if they were both fully clothed and fully alive while doing so.

"Okay." Damon shot Elena a surprised look at her easy concession, and she felt the need to clarify why she'd agreed to his demand so quickly. "I'll stay over here, but you have to stay over there." When he opened his mouth to argue, she swiftly interrupted him. "The past twenty-four hours have been intense for both of us, Damon. We need to hash out our frustrations with each other."

"Oh, I can think of plenty of ways I'd like to hash out my frustrations with you," he muttered. Elena crossed her arms.

"No, we're not going to do any of that. You and I are both going to stay out here, a good, safe, clothed twenty-five meters away from each other, and we are going to have an honest, respectable discussion about us. I'll go first," she said, deliberately ignoring the way Damon groaned when she mentioned the words "clothed", "honest", and "respectable." "I'm sorry, Damon. I'm sorry for going on a date with Brian last night when I knew it would upset you."

Damon snorted and rolled his eyes. "You call this being honest, Elena? You're lying to me and you're lying to yourself if you think you're actually sorry for doing something that might upset me. Try again, and don't bullshit me this time."

"This isn't going to work if you keep swearing at me!" Elena yelled. She hated knowing that he was right. Damon knew her better than anyone else she'd ever known; of course he could immediately tell that she was skimming the surface of her apology. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. This next statement would be the most honest thing she'd ever said in her young life.

"I'm sorry that I wanted to escape the way I feel about you."

Damon's eyes enlarged. His mouth dropped open, and he appeared to be at a loss for words. He finally spoke, his voice low and pillow soft.

"How do you feel about me, Elena?"

Her mind raced. Dozens of responses to his question flew to the forefront of her mind, but one particular answer continued to gnaw at her system. She knew that she would be a liar if she said anything but those specific words.

Damon watched Elena struggle to answer his question. For the first time in a long time, he felt utterly helpless. He knew what he wanted her to say, what he dreamt of her saying to him, but now that the potential moment had arrived, he wished that he could withdraw his inquiry. He didn't think his heart could handle it if she said anything other than those three life changing words.

But despite all of his uncertainty, he had to know.

"Elena."

Elena looked up at him, her eyes dancing with fear. She never thought anything like this would happen tonight. All she had wanted was to give Damon a cherry blossom apology tree, and now she was being forced to own up to the lingering feelings she'd denied all summer.

She felt terrified.

She felt exhilarated.

Damon's urgency grew with every second Elena was quiet. He wanted to rush to her but restrained himself in case her words were cruel. He watched her watch him. The simultaneous fear and hope in her eyes reflected the warring emotions that currently threatened to tear him apart.

He tried to speak to her again. "Elena, how do you feel about me?"

Elena's brow furrowed as she argued with herself in her head. Should she be honest with Damon and expose the truth to him, or should she protect her feelings and tell him a fraction of the things she wanted to say? What if he rejected her? What if he took her words and threw them back in her face? Elena knew she'd never recover from that kind of heartbreak.

But what if Damon accepted her words? What if he accepted her despite all of her imperfections? Was the risk of rejection worth earning his potential affections?

Elena instantly knew that it was.

Her mind made up, Elena looked straight into Damon's eyes. She opened her mouth and said the words that throbbed on the tip of her tongue.

"I love you, Damon."

* * *

><p><strong>Aaaah! I know, I know: I'm cruel to leave it here. I'd apologize, but I can't afford to buy cherry blossom trees for all of you fantastic people. Personally, I'm a sucker for a bouquet of lillies and a plate of barbeque wings. What's the bestweirdest thing you've ever given/received as part of an apology? Let me know, and please review while you're at it! Thanks for sticking with this story - you're the absolute best!**


	5. Chapter 5

_I love you, Damon_.

Damon's eyes widened as his blood pulsed feverishly within his veins. He never thought that he would hear Elena say those four words and had done his best to convince himself that she never would. He'd forced himself to believe that Elena didn't go out of her way to spend time with him, that her body reacted so receptively to his advances because he'd had years of practice to perfect his seduction skills, that she merely tolerated his attention because she was a compassionate person and felt sorry for his perpetual state of loneliness. He refused to let himself think that anything more than friendship fueled her actions. He wouldn't lure himself into the false sense of hope that Elena might want him even a fraction of the way that he wanted her.

After all, if Damon had learned anything from his existence, it was that he never got the things he wanted more than anything. Karma was a cruel, vindictive bitch like that, and he was prepared to endure an eternal life of friendship with Elena as a result of his past transgressions. Her decision to go on a date with another man last night was blatant proof that she felt nothing romantically for him, and this knowledge was crushing. The countless visions that danced through his dreams of Elena admitting her love for him would never become reality.

Once again, Damon had failed to earn what he wanted.

Or so he thought.

Damon forced his gaping mouth closed as he uneasily eyed Elena. She stared back at him with an equally nervous expression that grew more despondent by the second. He abruptly realized that he should probably say something, anything to diffuse the suffocating silence that now smothered them, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he quickly closed it once more. He didn't know what to say. Elena's unexpected words had thrown him into a state of internal shock. What was he supposed to say when the woman he loved more than anything and anyone in all eternity, one who he pursued for most of the past two years he'd lived in Mystic Falls, one who he thought had chosen another and flaunted her decision in his face, just told him "I love you, Damon"? Did he dare believe her confession was true? Sweet Elena, forgiving Elena, _his_ Elena actually found him worthy of her love? This dream seemed too good to be true.

He didn't deserve for this dream to come true.

A harsh sigh of frustration brought Damon out of his thoughts. He shook his head and looked up at Elena, who had apparently kicked her dropped shovel into one of the holes in the ground before storming away from where he stood against the brick wall. His eyes widened at her retreating figure and he desperately called out to her.

"Elena!"

She didn't bother to turn around as she ran around the side of the boarding house. Her hands flew up to her face and roughly brushed at her skin, wiping away the hot tears that stained her cheeks. She felt mortified. Humiliated. She just gathered up all of her nerve and told Damon that she loved him, and he had the gall to just stand there, his mouth gaping wider than those stupid koi fish, and not say anything? His lack of a response to her confession stung so much worse than any other hurt she'd experienced in her recent years. She didn't want to fall in love with Damon, but she did. How could she not fall in love with this exciting, passionate man who doted on her with such generous intensity? Developing romantic feelings for Damon was unavoidable. She was fated to love him. That fact was inescapable, and thus his silent rejection shattered her fragile heart into thousands of tiny glass shards that twisted into her flesh, taunting her with every prick and stab. This pain felt unbearable. Being around Damon felt unbearable. She continued to blindly stumble around the exterior of the boarding house, her shaking hands periodically reaching up to push her tears off her face, desperate to leave the property before she made an even bigger fool of herself.

As Elena staggered around the front corner of the boarding house walls, her body collided into a muscled wall. The scent of mint and spice overwhelmed her senses as two strong hands gripped her shoulders. She didn't need to look up to know that Damon was her obstruction.

"Elena." His voice draped over her as if it were oral cashmere. Tenderness filled his tone as he lifted his hand to her cheek and gently padded away her tears. He lowered his hand to the underside of her chin. "Elena, look at me."

"Please leave me alone."

Damon barely heard Elena's response despite his enhanced hearing. She sounded so broken, so hollow that his own tears immediately flooded his eyes. This emptiness dwelled in Elena as a result of his slowness to respond to her declaration of love. She needed to look at him, in his eyes, to see that it was shock and not rejection that prevented him from immediately reacting to her words. His eyes were his most honest feature.

His eyes would never lie to her.

Damon cupped Elena's chin and stroked soothing lines on her face with his thumb. "Elena, please look at me. I need you to look at me. I'm begging you to look at me."

Elena wrenched herself from Damon's grasp. She pushed past him and ran towards her car. Her lower lip quivered, but she willed herself not to cry. Not here, at least. She refused to let the rawness of her heartbreak overcome her until she could find a private place where she felt comfortable giving in to these unwanted emotions. She wanted to leave the Salvatore property with a piece of her pride still intact, no matter how small that piece would be.

As Elena hurried around the front of the boarding house and towards her car, she stumbled on the edge of the driveway and fell onto the blacktop. Needled pain erupted near her knees and quickly shot to the rest of her body. She slowly sat up and glanced down at her legs. The skin atop her kneecaps looked as if it had gone through a paper shredder. Drops of blood slowly trickled down her legs and mixed with the dirt she'd accumulated throughout the day to create waved patterns of red and brown.

Elena wrapped her arms around her legs and hugged herself. She tipped her head to the side and wiped away remnant tears on the sleeve of Damon's black shirt. She stared at the rustic swirls on her shins and studied them for several seconds. The designs the dirt and blood created were beautiful and intricate…in a gruesome sort of way.

"God, Elena."

Damon's voice immediately interrupted Elena's thought process. She jerked her head up and saw him standing above her. His arms limply hung at his sides as shock filled his eyes. Air whooshed from his lungs as his gaze settled on her mangled knees. He immediately crouched to the ground and moved towards her.

"Damon, stop."

His focus remained on her knees as he continued to crawl towards her. "You're hurt."

"No, I'm not. Please don't come any closer."

Elena's request went unheard as Damon continued to approach her. She attempted to stand up to escape his advances, but as soon as she bent her knee, she felt as if thousands of tiny knives all stabbed into her leg at once. A choking sigh escaped her lips as she sat back down. She shuffled to the wheel of her car and leaned against it, closing her eyes to create the illusion of temporary solitude.

A golden, caressing tingle suddenly accompanied the pricking sensation in her legs. Elena knew, even with her eyes closed, that Damon now sat mere inches in front of her. She mentally cursed him for always having this calming effect on her, and then cursed her own body for always responding to his presence. The tingling feeling evolved into a throbbing shiver as the hair on her arms stood on edge. Her blood thumped frantically through her body, insisting that she let Damon take care of her, but she refused to accept his help. She would not let Damon's presence weaken her resolve into a pile of goo.

Elena opened her eyes. Sure enough, Damon sat directly in front of her knees, carefully watching her face. His rigid features softened as he searched her expression for something, anything that could help him bridge the expansive gap that now lay between them. He wanted to kick himself for not immediately responding to her words with an admittance of his own love for her. The evening would be going much differently if he had echoed Elena's sentiments. A brief vision of he and Elena laughing with each other over a homemade candlelit dinner – Italian, of course – flickered across Damon's mind before he forced his thoughts back to the present. This night could still be salvaged. His relationship with Elena could be strengthened as a result of his miscommunication.

He just had no idea how to do it.

"Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to say those words to you?"

Her voice sounded lower than it usually did. It wasn't intended to be a husky, sensual version of a low voice that was designed to bring a man to his knees – though the rough quality of the sound caused Damon's pants to involuntarily tighten – but was instead a loosely controlled, if he did anything wrong Elena wouldn't hesitate to punch him in the face kind of low. Damon decided it was best to continue his trend of not saying anything, and he responded to her query with a sincere nod.

If possible, Elena's glare intensified after Damon's nod, as if rebuking him for finally daring to offer her any kind of answer. "I could have said four completely different words. 'Forget about it, Damon.' 'Kiss me now, Damon.' 'I want you, Damon.' I could have said any of those things or thousands of other things, but for once, for once I chose to be completely honest with you. We're never completely honest with each other, and it's resulted in this stupid dance we've done around each other throughout our entire relationship. You say one thing but you mean another. I say something but I leave the important details out. We've never really trusted each other with our feelings, but for once Damon, for once I wanted to be completely honest about the way I feel about you. I knew there was a small chance that you'd feel the same way about me, but you've been so nice and attentive to me this summer that I guess I assumed that chance was bigger than it originally was."

"So I told you I love you," Elena continued, her hands clenching into fists as the sound of her voice rose. "I said 'I love you, Damon,' and you just stood there. You just stood there!" Her voice cracked with a sob, and Damon felt his own heart rip into pieces. "You just stood there and didn't say anything to let me know what you were thinking. I wasn't expecting you to say 'I love you, too,' but I did think that you had enough respect for our friendship to at least say or do something to let me know how you felt. You didn't say anything, and that hurt me so much."

Damon watched Elena hug her knees to her chest as her body wracked itself in silent sobs. He felt as if a steel weight pressed heavily on his chest. His silence had ruined everything. Elena felt humiliated by her love admittance. She had also convinced herself that his nonresponsive answer meant that he didn't have any respect for their relationship, let alone love her.

Nothing was further than the truth. The only thing Damon had constantly respected was his relationship with Elena. His every action was based around whether Elena would approve. He wanted to be someone she would be proud to be with. He wanted to be the better man for her.

Damon never wanted to be better for anyone, but he wanted to be better for her.

Unfortunately, Damon knew that now was not the proper moment to admit his undying love to Elena. She wouldn't accept his confession if he gave it. She'd always assumed that his advances towards her were mostly sexual in nature, and she would certainly believe the same thing now if he tried to rectify this situation. Even though it pained him to do so, he would wait to tell Elena that her feelings for him were fully reciprocated. He didn't want her to have any doubt that he loved her, and unfortunately that meant he needed to wait until the heat of this moment had passed them by.

Elena couldn't help but wonder what Damon thought as he crouched in front of her. Her annoyance with him grew. Once again, he'd failed to say anything. She'd just given the greatest explanation of her life, and he didn't say a single word. What was the point of having the ability to speak if the only other person in her vicinity didn't talk back to her? Not that anything he would have said would lessen her frustration. A large part of her wanted Damon to say something just so she could yell at him. Her prior feelings of mortification were rapidly being replaced with irritation, and she relished the change. Irritation was a driving force. Irritation was empowering. Irritation gave her the courage to remove herself from the situation. If Damon was just going to sit there and stare at her, she would leave. She had better things to do with her time.

After she bawled her eyes out over Damon's rejection, she would do those better things.

Elena pushed herself to her feet, wincing when she bent her bloody knees. She avoided looking at Damon, but she felt the intensity of his stare on her back as she opened her car door. She went to slide into the driver's seat, but she paused as an idea entered her head. Sure, it was a little childish. Okay, it was extremely childish, but at least it would give Damon something to think about as she drove away.

Elena turned back around to face Damon. She glued her eyes to his as she grabbed the hem of her black shirt – the one she'd borrowed from Damon's dresser. Her lips twitched to form a defiant smirk as she slowly raised the shirt over her head.

Damon bit his lip to keep from moaning as he watched Elena strip his shirt from her body. He was vaguely aware that Elena was revealing more and more of her skin to him, but he was powerless to do anything but stand in the driveway and watch. He couldn't tear his gaze from hers. Those bold eyes were drowning him in a sea of calculated intention. She knew what she was doing. Elena willingly taking her clothes off would unnerve any man, but she knew that her actions would have an especially strong effect on him. They always did.

How in the world did she convince herself that he felt nothing for her?

Elena lifted the soft fabric over her head. She stood before Damon, her upper body completely bare except for a lacy black bra. A tremor of satisfaction fluttered through her system as he gulped at the sight of her exposed body. So he didn't want her? Fine. She'd start to cope with that fact tomorrow.

Right now, however, she planned to show him what he would miss out on by silently rejecting her.

She slowly walked towards Damon, adding a deliberate sway to her languid approach. When her body stood inches away from his, she leaned into him as she wrapped her arms around his back. She felt his muscles clench as she leisurely tucked her discarded shirt into one of his back pockets. Her other hand slipped into the remaining pocket, giving his backside a firm squeeze. She felt his breath quicken as she stood on her tiptoes and placed her lips near the shell of his ear.

"It's a shame I wasn't wearing a pair of your pants," she seductively breathed. "You'd see my birthmark if I took those off."

Damon's resolve snapped. "Fucking hell, Elena," he snarled, yanking her body to his. In an instant, he slammed them against the warm metal of her car and crushed his lips to hers.

Elena's body melted into Damon's strong frame as his lips devoured hers. Her fingers clawed into his backside as she frantically pulled him into her. Every inch of his hard body pressed against her, every ounce of his flesh ignited hers in a sizzling inferno of desire. Her fingers raced to the hem of his shirt and slipped underneath the fabric, digging into the muscled skin that lay underneath. She needed to touch him, to get as close to him as she possibly could, and her hands jumped up to fist in his hair, crashing his face to hers in a brutal meeting of lips and tongue. He was hot. Ravaging. _Perfect_.

Absolute perfection.

Damon's hands roamed over Elena's body as her lips tangled with his in a dance of fire and possession. His skilled fingers traced the outside of her bra before they cupped the underside of her breasts. He felt her nipples harden beneath the fabric, and he massaged small circles around the tipped peaks. Her lips opened in a breathy sigh, and he used the opportunity to slip his tongue into the hot caverns of her mouth. A moan erupted from his throat as her tongue touched his, and he pressed himself harder against her as his thumbs increased the pace of his assault on her breasts. He had to get closer to her. He needed to feel her skin on his, and he temporarily broke their heated kiss as he tore his shirt over his head before his mouth returned to nip at her throat.

Elena gasped as Damon's naked torso molded itself to hers. Heat, all consuming heat soaked her entire body as his lips nibbled and sucked at the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck. Her hands reached to outline the crevices of the muscles on his chest, and she ran slow fingers over the hard earned lines on his stomach. He hissed into her, and the feel of his breath against her skin created erupting goosebumps all over her body. The sensation felt positively delicious, and she tipped her head to the side to give him easier access to her neck. His teeth scraped against her skin, and the unexpected feeling caused her to mewl in pleasure. Damon's name slipped between her lips as she wrapped her arms around his body and pulled him to her, savoring the feel of his body against hers.

Damon's heart somersaulted wildly in his chest when he heard Elena breathe his name. He paused his frenzied motions before he lowered his head to fit in the crook of her neck. His fingers gently skimmed her arms until they reached her interlinked hands behind his back. He softly removed her hands from each other and intertwined them with his own fingers. He sighed into her neck and pressed a soothing kiss there before lifting his head and touching his forehead to hers. They stood in that position for several seconds, both of them breathing raggedly, neither one of them sure of what to do.

Damon decided that it was his turn to finally speak. He kept his forehead against Elena's as his thumbs rubbed tender patterns on her hands.

"I never thought I would hear those four words come out of your mouth," he hesitantly began, his voice faltering a bit. "No one's ever said those four words to me and meant them, not once during my entire time here on this planet. I taught myself to accept the fact that I'd never hear anyone say those four words to me because let's face it; I'm not a loveable person. I do bad things. I hurt people, sometimes intentionally. Why would anyone love me? Better yet, what right do I have to love anyone else?"

Damon took a deep breath before continuing. "But then I met you, Elena. I met you, and for whatever reason you didn't shut me out. You gave me chances when no one else would, and you forgave me when I screwed up. You valued me when I didn't even value myself. For the first time in a long time, someone wanted me around. Do you know how terrifying that knowledge was, to know that someone I liked spending time with genuinely liked being around me? To know that if I messed this up and hurt you that my lone source of happiness would be gone? I couldn't bear to have that much influence over our relationship, so I purposefully tried to unnerve you so you'd be wary of having me around. I flirted with you and tried to make you uncomfortable so you'd tell me to stay away. I didn't want to ruin the best connection I'd made to anyone since I returned to Mystic Falls."

"My plan backfired on me, of course," Damon tersely laughed as he ran a shaking hand through his unruly hair. "It would have been a great plan if I could have actually stayed away from you."

"But here's the problem with that, Elena," Damon said, removing his forehead from hers and staring directly into her startled eyes. "Being around you had – has – become as vital to my existence as my need to drink blood. You're an essential part of my survival. My world is meaningless without you in it."

"Damon," Elena whispered. His name sounded like a prayer on her lips. He gently cupped her face with his hands.

"I didn't think you could feel the same way," he pleaded, his blue eyes shimmering with hope. "I tried so hard to convince myself that you didn't feel the same way. I told myself that you only wanted to be friends, that you didn't trust me, that you only kept me around because you felt sorry for me. I tried anything I could to persuade myself that I needed to give up on the reality of us because you didn't want it to happen."

The tears that slowly pooled in Elena's eyes matched those that gathered in Damon's. "And then you told me that you love me. You love me, Elena," he repeated as a lone tear dripped down his cheek. "You love me, and I couldn't respond because I was in shock. I'm not worthy of something as wonderful as your love. I've never been deserving of something so good, and I'm scared that I never will be. I've done so much to hurt you, today included, and I'm so sorry. I need you to know that."

Elena searched Damon's eyes and saw nothing but…love…beaming from them. She gently ran her hands down his chest before stringing her fingers through his belt loops. Her mind raced as she struggled to process everything he said. His words were not the words of an indifferent man. No, his words were sincere. Promising.

Something Damon said nagged at the back of her mind. "You really thought I kept you around because I felt sorry for you?"

Damon glanced down at his feet, ashamed he had those doubts. His hands dropped from Elena's face to his sides. "You're a beautiful, compassionate, embracing woman who recognized that I was lonely, Elena. You don't like to see people lonely, even if they're people you'd rather not spend time with."

Elena's heart broke at the self-doubt laced in Damon's response. She linked her arms around Damon's neck, forcing him to look up at her.

"I keep you around because I want to spend time with you, Damon," she insisted. "I enjoy spending time with you. I choose to spend time with you."

She suddenly grew silent as another thought crossed her mind. She knew, despite the self-assured front he usually presented to others, that Damon frequently thought less of himself than he should. Something else that Damon had said bothered her.

"Do you really think that you're unlovable?"

Damon looked at Elena, his vulnerability shining through his expression. "I used to think so."

"And now?"

He hesitated. Elena had admitted that she loved him. That meant something in the grand scheme of his existence. It had to.

"You love me," he finally said, testing the words out for himself. "Despite everything I've done, despite my infinite flaws, you love me."

Elena nodded. Silence settled between them as Damon tried to process this information. Elena loved him. She loved him in spite of all the bad experiences they shared together. She loved him for his weaknesses and for his strengths. She chose to be with him. She chose to love him.

"Damon?" Elena's small voice cut through his thoughts. A smile began to form on his face, but it quickly disappeared when he saw the flicker of doubt in Elena's eyes. He vowed to crush the source of that uncertainty, whatever it was.

"What is it?"

She paused, as if debating whether or not to say what bothered her mind. She finally opened her mouth to speak.

"How do you feel about me?"

The smile returned to Damon's face as he pulled Elena to him. This was their moment. This was the part in their story where everything became real and nothing hurt anymore. There would be no turning back after he said those four life-changing words.

"I love you, Elena."

Elena's eyes lit up. "Despite everything I've done to you, despite the countless times I've denied you?" she confirmed.

"Yes." And with that one word, Damon closed the distance between himself and Elena as he tenderly pressed his lips to hers.

As Damon's lips teased hers, Elena realized that this kiss completely differed from the two kisses they'd shared since last night. Whereas those two kisses were driven by heat and passion, this one was soft. Romantic. Saturated in the dynamic potential of their relationship. This kiss echoed the constant, eternal love that would flourish between her and Damon.

This kiss was everything.

Elena slowly raised her lips from Damon's. She ran a hand through his soft hair and smiled as his body shivered at her touch.

"I'm sorry I didn't respond faster when you said you loved me," he said, smoothing her hair back from her face.

"I'm sorry I went on a date with Brian last night," she countered. Damon growled at the mention of Brian's name.

"Don't remind me. I had to drive to Florida last night to cope with the thought of you two together."

"You went on a road trip without me? I've been digging holes since noon, waiting for you to return! I wanted to apologize. I even bought you a tree."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "You bought me a tree?"

"An apology tree," Elena corrected, taking his hand. She led him around to the boarding house backyard. "A cherry blossom apology tree, to be precise. Milly thought it would be a perfect addition to your flower garden. John Lawn thought so too."

"John Lawn," Damon chuckled. "Of course you'd charm him into changing his design."

"Modifying it," Elena corrected as she dragged him across the yard. Damon helplessly followed her. He looked down at their interwoven hands and realized that he was grinning like an idiot. Elena could take him wherever she wanted and he would willingly follow.

He loved her that much.

"Here it is," Elena announced, stopping them in front of a bucketed sapling. As Damon eyed the tree, Elena watched him. She suddenly felt self-conscious about her apology tree. She knew it was a silly idea, but it now seemed absolutely ridiculous. Who gives someone a tree as part of her apology? Who gives Damon Salvatore a tree as an apology gift?

Damon's heart inflated with love as he looked at the potted cherry blossom tree. This plant was by far the nicest gesture anyone ever made towards him. He didn't have much experience with apologies – he was usually the person who needed to apologize to others, something he seldom did – but he knew that Elena went above and beyond the call of duty to show him how truly sorry she was for hurting him. He didn't think it was possible to love this woman any more than he already did, but she continued to awe him with her creative sincerity.

"I know it's silly," Elena began, nervous at Damon's silence, "but I—"

"I love it," he said, cutting off her doubting words. "No one's ever done anything like this for me before. Thank you, Elena."

"You're welcome, Damon."

They stood there quietly, their fingers interlinked, contemplating the significance of the cherry blossom tree. Elena turned to face Damon.

"This is going to sound weird," she slowly said, unsure of how to proceed, "but if we're going to be together, I want to do this right. You and I have such a strong emotional connection to each other, but I think it took me so long to realize our potential because I was focusing too much on our physical connection. And it's not that I don't want to do things with you, because I do, I just…"

"You want to develop our emotional relationship before we take our physical relationship to the next level," Damon said, finishing Elena's sentence. She nodded, eyeing him nervously as he contemplated her request.

"You make me feel so amazing when I'm around you," she quickly said, desperate to placate him. "You have such a powerful effect on my body, and I know that I have a similar effect on you, but I want our relationship to be about more than—"

"Sex," Damon interjected. His brow creased. He understood where she was coming from and why she wanted to abstain from messing around until they had a lock on their emotive bond, but that didn't mean he had to like the idea. He hadn't withheld himself from sex since he first had it!

But still, this was Elena who made this request of him. He couldn't deny her anything, even if it would result in his perpetual blue balls for…

"How long are we going to abstain from doing anything?" he asked. He would wait forever to touch her, though he prayed to the gods that it wouldn't take that long to secure the other half of their relationship. He was sure his body would explode before then.

"I don't know," Elena admitted. "I mean, our connection to each other is already so powerful thanks to all that we've been through. I just thought it would be a good idea to test out the nonphysical aspects of our relationship before we enter sex into the mix."

"Besides," she said, her voice dropping down to a whisper. "I can't think straight when you kiss me. God knows what I'd do if you tried anything else."

Damon closed his eyes and groaned, less playfully than he originally intended. "You're killing me, Elena." He reopened his eyes and studied her face. "It's important to you that we try this?"

"It is."

He exhaled loudly. "I can't promise you that I won't try to speed up this process."

"I expect you to."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Will you succumb to my advances? I can be very romantic when I want to be, you know," he said, brushing a tender kiss on the top of her hand. He smirked at her as he felt her pulse quicken.

Elena snatched her hand from his, a teasing glint in her eyes. "If you're good enough, I might reward you."

Visions of Elena's possible rewards bombarded Damon's thoughts, none of which were innocent in nature. He dramatically sighed and took both of her hands back in his.

"If pausing on the sexy times is important to you, then we'll give it a shot. For a month," he quickly amended, grinning at the way her lips pursed. "I'm not a saint, Elena, but I love you enough to try to tame my wicked ways."

She rolled her eyes. "You're planting a flower garden in your backyard, Damon Salvatore. You're not as wicked as you claim you are."

"Now you're just being mean, issuing me a challenge than I can't answer for a month," he grumbled. Elena giggled. She stepped forward to place a chaste kiss on his lips, causing Damon's frustration to momentarily lift. He held her closer to him when she attempted to wriggle away.

"Damon, I need a shower!"

"You're telling me." Elena huffed and jabbed him in the ribs.

"Can I borrow some of your clothes to wear afterwards? Mine are all dirty."

The same carnal images flashed back into Damon's mind at Elena's accidentally provocative words. He nuzzled his chin into the curve of her neck. "First you challenge my wickedness, then you ask to wear my clothes, and then you say the word "dirty" and expect me to do nothing about it? You, Elena Gilbert, are a huge tease and you don't even know it."

"I'm sorry," she laughed, pushing at his sweaty chest. "But can I please take a shower?"

Damon touched his lips to Elena's once more before reluctantly releasing her. "Hurry up stinky, I'm cooking dinner for us." His pulse skipped a beat as Elena grinned at his words before disappearing into the boarding house. He mentally replayed everything that happened since he arrived home that day. The tone of the evening had completely changed. He'd gone from assuming that Elena wanted nothing to do with him to hearing that she loved him to admitting that he loved her.

He felt unstoppable. Somehow, the most perfect woman in the entire world wanted to be with him despite his imperfections. She loved him. Elena loved him.

He would never get tired of hearing her say that.

Her desire to impede their physical activity, however, had already become tiring. Vivid thoughts of his pale limbs tangled with her tanned ones had lodged themselves in his mind, and his body begged him to make those dreams a reality. His skin was already so hypersensitive around her that he ached when he wore any articles of clothing.

Thank goodness he slept naked.

Damon grabbed the shirt that Elena stuffed into his back pocket and held it up to his face. He inhaled, and Elena's honeyed scent – mixed with the sweat and dirt she'd accumulated after a long day's work – drowned his senses. The craving to touch her instantly engulfed him, and he quickly threw the fabric onto the ground. He wasn't going to last long if Elena took her time to establish their emotional relationship. She needed to know that his love comprised of much more than his sexual urges for her. He was head over heels crazy about her. The sooner he showed her this, the sooner he'd be allowed to touch her, to fully love her with both his body and his soul.

* * *

><p><strong>I am so moved by your kind and insightful reviews. Hugs and chocolate to you all! Please let me know what you thought about this chapter as well as any specific things you'd like to see happen in the rest of the story. Damon and Elena have officially left the confines of Angstville and are well on their way to a place I like to call Sexytown, USA. Who else thinks that Elena's self induced Damon-abstinence won't last for long?<br>**


	6. Chapter 6

Elena walked towards the newspaper office the next morning feeling positively blissful. Last night with Damon – the first evening they'd spent together after confessing their "I love you"s to each other – was perfect. After she showered and changed into a clean shirt and pair of his silk pajama pants, she joined him downstairs in the kitchen and helped him cook dinner. As she helped him bread the chicken cutlets to make chicken parmigiana, he told her childhood stories of his grandmother teaching him to perfect the family recipes. Elena laughed loudly when Damon admitted to having a tendency to let things cook a bit too long, citing the time the entire plantation smelt of smoke after he placed a load of bread in their brick oven and left it there for hours while he was off playing with their cats! Her heart swelled as he spoke so easily about his youth. She could hardly believe her luck that this loyal, persistent, _beautiful_ man – a man who fully reciprocated the consuming love she felt for him – was opening up to her and revealing more of his unknown background. He gave all of himself freely. Anything she asked, he answered. She suspected that there was nothing he wouldn't do for her.

She was absolutely certain that there was nothing she wouldn't do for him.

The perfection of the night continued after their candlelit dinner concluded. Damon took her by the hand and led her up to the boarding house attic. He rummaged through several musty boxes before sliding one across the floor to her and motioning her to take a look inside it. She gave him an apprehensive look before slowly pulling the lid off the top of the box. She gasped at what she saw. There, resting on top of a series of one hundred year old knick knacks, sat Damon's old Confederate army uniform. She looked up at him, wide-eyed at the discovery, and he gave her an uncharacteristically shy smile that melted her heart with its sincerity. They spent the remainder of the night up in the attic, going through Damon and Stefan's old things and sharing more stories about their lives before they'd met each other. Damon seemed captivated by every word that came out of her mouth. His interest made Elena all the more eager to tell him about herself. _This_ was the kind of intimacy she wanted from a relationship, and it appeared that Damon was her perfect match. Their connection was as strong emotionally as it was physically...and boy was their physical connection strong.

As she and Damon talked in the attic, Elena began to wonder if she made a mistake by pausing her and Damon's physical activity for an entire damn month. What the hell was she thinking? Why did she propose something that already had her entire body on tense, pulsing, prickly alert mere hours after they agreed to hold off on sex? She swore she was strong enough to power through her natural reaction to ravish Damon whenever he was around, but she was already going to snap. He just wouldn't stop touching her! His touches never ventured past the boundary lines they'd set, but even the innocent way his hands constantly found her aroused her to an unbearable degree. His arm brushed hers in the kitchen, and her skin felt hotter than the flames in his oven. His knee leaned against hers as they ate dinner sitting next to each other, and she forced all of her willpower into her leg to keep it from latching around his. And then in the attic, one, if not both, of his hands was always interlaced with hers. She'd bit her lip on multiple occasions to keep herself from moaning as his thumb rubbed gentle circles on the skin on top of her hands. She was going mad. She was seconds away from shoving all of his possessions to the side and straddling him on top of the dusty attic floor until the grandfather clock rang out downstairs, simultaneously breaking her out of her Damon-induced lust haze and alerting her that it was now 10pm.

She couldn't let herself spend the night with him. No matter how much she wanted to be at the boarding house, Elena knew that she and Damon wouldn't get any sleep if they stayed within a five hundred foot radius of each other. Oh no, she was positive that they would spend all night doing things that were very, um, non-sleep related. She refused to surrender to her desires less than twenty-four hours after she made her arrangement with Damon! No, she was stronger than that. Her spine_ had_ to be stronger than that. Besides, it was good to wait. Yeah. Waiting had its benefits...like having a stronger connection or something like that.

The searing goodnight kiss Damon gave Elena against the hood of her car turned her into a gasping, quivering mess that left her two seconds away from taking him on top of the hood of his car. Damn those talented lips of his that knew exactly what to do to melt her bones into a pile of goo! She'd somehow managed to playfully push him away, promising him "plenty more of that" when she came over after work the next day.

It was that promise of getting to have Damon completely pliant underneath her hands that had Elena grinning wider than a football field as she stepped through the newspaper office doors the next morning. An unusual floral aroma wafted through the air.

"Must be someone's new perfume," she muttered, spinning her head in all directions in attempt to locate the owner of the new scent. As she returned her head to its forward position, she saw a very frantic Brian running up to her.

"Elena, are you okay? I am so, so sorry," he quickly said, immediately pulling her into his arms for a hug. "If there's anything I can do to make this easier for you, please let me know."

Elena twisted out of Brian's grasp with a confused expression on her face. "Brian, what are you talking about?" she demanded as she walked through the labyrinth of cubicles in the direction of her desk. The floral smell grew stronger with every step. "Make what easier for me..._oh_."

Flowers of all shapes and colors spilled out from her desk area and onto the surrounding floor area. Elena's mouth dropped open as she took in the sight. She'd never seen a more diverse and beautiful group of flowers. Orange and pink lilies. Sunset colored tulips. Roses. Pansies. Orchids. Geraniums. Violets. Every kind of flower Elena could think of had invaded her cubicle to the point that she couldn't see her desk beneath the blossoms.

"Have you seen my desk?" she joked. Brian had a sympathetic expression on his face as he watched her dazedly stare at the surplus of flowers covering her cubicle.

"They were here when I arrived this morning. I assumed someone in your family died," he said, taking her messenger bag and hanging it up in the closet.

"Not that I know of." Her hands reached out to the card sticking up from the closest arrangement of roses. She flipped it open and read the note.

_"For it was not into my ear you whispered, but my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul." – Judy Garland_

Elena's breath hitched in her throat as she reread the card at least ten times. She pawed through the remaining bouquets until she held all of their tiny messages in her hands. She eagerly opened the next note and read it.

_"What I feel for you seems less of earth and more of a cloudless heaven." – Victor Hugo_

Her heart hammered against her chest as she read the next note.

_"But to see her was to love her, love but her, and love her forever." – Robert Burns_

Her hands shook as she opened the next card.

_"Here are fruits, flowers, leaves, and branches. And here is my heart which beats only for you." – Paul Verlaine_

Elena stroked the velvety petals of the nearby lily as she struggled to contain her tears. She read the next note.

_"As for me, to love you alone, to make you happy, to do nothing which would contradict your wishes, this is my destiny and the meaning of my life." – Napoleon Bonaparte_

Elena felt a warm tear slip down her cheek as she closed the card. _Damon_. She just knew the flowers were his doing No one had ever made such a grand gesture towards her. She felt cherished. Beloved. To spend the remainder of the day in the office away from him seemed to be the worst kind of torture specifically designed for her torment. Her heart felt so light that she suspected she could open her chest and it would flutter straight to him.

"I'm guessing there's not a death in your family?" Brian's voice, now with a bit of an edge to it, cut through Elena's reverie. Startled, she looked over at him. His traditional laid-back expression had been replaced by something with a bit more anger to it. Elena knew he'd realized that these flowers were of a romantic nature. She nodded to answer his question as the overwhelming happiness she'd felt just seconds ago started to dwindle. She felt bad for the way she'd practically used him to force her and Damon's feelings for each other out in the open, but she would _never_ feel bad for the way she felt about Damon. Brian was a nice guy, but he didn't complete her the way Damon did.

Brian would just have to get over this little hissy fit he was throwing and move on so they could go back to being friends.

"Salvatore?" Brian's scowling voice interrupted her thoughts once again. His attitude was starting to piss Elena off, and she gave him her best stink eye as she turned to face him head on.

"Yes."

Brian dramatically rolled his eyes as she ran his hands through his hair. "Christ, the guy sure does move fast when someone else tries to do anything with you. Possessive, much?"

Visions of backhanding Brian with one of her many flower arrangements filled Elena's head. Now _that_'s a story she'd love to tell Damon. No no, she'd behave. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she raised an eyebrow at Brian.

"Anything else you'd care to say about my _boyfriend_, Brian?"

Boyfriend. The word rolled off Elena's tongue as easily as Damon's shower water slipped down her back. Elena discovered that she liked calling Damon her boyfriend.

She liked it _a lot_.

Brian opened his mouth as if to respond to Elena's question before immediately closing it. He shook his head. His eyes shot daggers at the flowers that merged on the edge of his cubicle. Elena sent him a deadly smile.

"Good." She watched as he stormed back to his desk. Releasing a long sigh of relief, she pocketed the notes she'd already seen in the back of her slim black Capri pants before reading the remainder of them.

_"There be none of Beauty's daughters with a magic like thee; And like music on the waters is thy sweet voice to me." – Lord Byron_

The giddiness Elena felt earlier returned in full force as she read Byron's words. Her passion for literature was one of the many things she'd discussed with Damon last night. The fact that he quoted one of her favorite poets spoke volumes to her.

_"I wished for nothing beyond her smile, and to walk with her thus, hand in hand, along a sun-warmed, flower-bordered path." – Andre Gide_

The simplicity of this quote made Elena smile as she thought of all the sunny, flowered paths surrounding Mystic Falls that she and Damon could walk down.

"_Thou art to me a delicious torment." – Ralph Waldo Emerson_

Elena shivered after reading this card. The fact that Damon was a vampire brought an additional meaning to Emerson's words. Her lower regions throbbed as she thought of all the ways Damon could bring Emerson's words to life...when they finally entered that stage of their relationship, of course.

"_Come live with me, and be my love, and we will some new pleasures prove, of golden sands, and crystal brooks, with silken lines and silver hooks." - John Donne_

New pleasures, indeed. Damon had dipped into a spring of passions Elena hadn't known she had brewing inside of her. Who knew what else he could awaken in her as their relationship progressed?

"_I love her and that's the beginning and end of everything." – F. Scott Fitzgerald_

Tears welled in Elena's eyes as she read the last note card. Without pausing to think about what she was doing, she grabbed her cell phone out of her bag and ran into the warehouse, desperate for some privacy. Her fingers quickly dialed Damon's number and she paced across the concrete floor as she anxiously waited to hear his voice.

He picked up after the first ring. "Good morning, Elena," he drawled in that low, sexy way of his. The sound of his voice made warm tingles erupt all over Elena's body. Her skin _ached_ to be touched by him.

"You sent me flowers," she breathed, fully aware of the fact that she sounded like a lovesick teenager. Wait...

"I did." She knew he was smirking at her on the other end of the line. His satisfaction practically oozed out of her phone! A huge smile spread across her face as she sat on top of a large cardboard box and held her phone tightly to her ear.

"They're beautiful, Damon. I don't think I've ever seen anything so lovely before."

Damon chuckled. "You should look in the mirror more often. _You_ are most definitely the loveliest thing I've ever seen throughout this existence of mine."

Elena felt her heart threaten to burst out of her chest. She beamed so widely she thought her cheeks would pop. "Thank you. Thank you for everything, Damon. I love my flowers and can't wait to see them in your flower garden."

"You know," he began, that voice of his causing her stomach to perform all sorts of Olympic-style flips, "I think you should thank me for your flowers in person."

Elena groaned at the temptation of his suggestion. "Believe me, the only thing I've wanted to do this morning is skip work and spend the day with you. I'm pretty sure my boss would be upset if I left the office on the second to last day of my internship."

"What if you didn't have to leave the office to see me?"

Elena's heart stopped for a split second before it started beating rapidly against her ribs. Hope inflated her chest. "You're going to stop by the newspaper?"

"I'm already here."

Elena sprinted out of the warehouse as fast as she could move in her red Mary Jane pumps. She ran into the office and came to an abrupt halt as her neck craned to find Damon. She had only briefly touched her phone to her ear before she heard him three dangerously seductive words.

"Conference room. Now."

Elena's heels spun to the right as she briskly walked down the long hallway. A string of short thoughts bounced around in her head. _Walk faster_._ No, slow down. You're still in the office_._ You've got to look professional. Damon's waiting for you, walk faster_!_ No, slow down_!_ Slow_._ Down_. _Damon's not going anywhere_. _You don't want to appear desperate for him, do you_?

_Silly girl, you are desperate for him_.

The clacks of Elena's heels against the tiled floor slowed as she approached the conference room door. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her silk dress shirt and took a deep breath to compose herself. _It's just Damon_. _Calm down_. She took another deep breath for good measure before walking through the conference room doors.

Elena couldn't prevent the soft moan from escaping her mouth as she stood still in the conference room doorframe. Damon stood in front of her, casually leaning against the long mahogany table that dominated the room. He wore one of those black shirts of his that clung to his body like a second skin and a pair of dark jeans that gave her the most primal desire to bite his ass for _hours_. Her eyes blatantly roamed over every inch of his body, drinking in just how delicious he looked standing in front of her. She licked her lips at the way his muscles flexed underneath his clothing. When she finally looked at his face, she wasn't surprised to see a knowing smirk grace his mouth. _Busted_. She tried to look guilty for being caught ogling him, but a giddy smile spread across her face. She just didn't have it in her to feel guilty for eye-fucking her smoking hot boyfriend.

Besides, his eyes did the same thing to her all the time.

"I believe you owe me a thank you, Miss Gilbert." Damon's blue eyes twinkled as he beckoned her towards him with his index finger. The actions of Elena's feet matched the thoughts in her head for the first time since learning that Damon came to the office to see her. She ran towards him. His arms snaked out and pulled her to his body, wrapping themselves around her thin frame as he lowered his mouth to hers.

_Too long_, Damon thought as his lips melted against Elena's. It had been too damn long since he last kissed her. Too damn long since their amazing night in his attic. He always hated waking up without her around, but after everything they shared with each other last night, this morning without Elena felt like a hell designed for him and him alone. How did saying three words to her make her just as vital to his existence as the blood he drank to survive? How did hearing her say those three words to him make him want to do everything in his power to make sure that he deserved something as precious as her affection? She was perfect, a tiny bundle of forgiveness and compassion. The way that she alone could manipulate his body, could calm him with one touch and bring him to his knees with another, was nothing short of incredible. She owned him completely, body and mind. There was no way in hell he'd pass up a chance to see her this morning.

The fluttering Damon felt in Elena's veins reminded him that he should probably let her breathe sometime soon, so he reluctantly placed three sweet, chaste kisses on her lips before lifting his head from hers. His hands tightened around her waist as her arms slipped around his neck. If their mouths couldn't be connected at the moment, at least their bodies could touch.

Damon smiled down at Elena. His heart clenched when she returned his smile before nuzzling into his chest. "Thank you for the flowers, Damon." Her voice sounded feather-soft and sleepy, reminding him of all the future lazy mornings he wanted to spend with her in his bed. He held her tightly to him and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I wanted to do something nice for my girl."

"What you did was _very_ nice."

His hands absently stroked the waterfall of chocolate hair that cascaded down her back. Was there a way she could work at the newspaper and he could work on her flower garden without letting her leave his arms? God, he hoped so. "I can be very nice."

Elena craned her neck up at Damon. She placed her hand on his cheek, relishing the feel of his stubble against her skin. "You _are_ very nice, Damon. Your generosity and thoughtfulness is part of who you are. It's one of the many reasons I'm so crazy about you."

Damon tilted his face into Elena's palm as he sighed contentedly. Her warm skin contrasted with his cool flesh, and closed his eyes to better appreciate the comfort her touch brought him. When he opened his eyes, he looked right at her.

"I love you."

She giggled as she dusted an all too brief peck on his lips. "I love you. And I really love my flowers...and their accompanying notes. The quotes on the cards were so beautiful."

Damon kissed Elena again. If he didn't know any better, he would swear that genetics had installed magnets with opposing poles in each of their lips. Surely that would explain why he constantly wanted their mouths together. "There's plenty more where that came from," he said, brushing his lips against her ear. He did an inner fist pump when he felt goosebumps erupt all over her body as she reacted to his voice.

Elena's breathing sped up as she felt Damon's mouth ghost over her ear. She tried to act like he had no effect on her, even though she knew that he could feel every last one of her body's miniscule reactions. "Oh, really?"

"Really." His fingers inched their way underneath the hem of her shirt to satisfy his incessant need to touch her skin. His lips opened against her ear. "She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies; and all that's best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes."

Elena trembled at the beautiful poetry that flew effortlessly from Damon's lips. Her hands tightened around the hair at the nape of his neck. "Byron," she whispered, feeling the blood in her veins dance and spark as Damon's fingers continued to play with the flesh over her stomach.

Damon originally intended to tease Elena with his extensive knowledge of poetry and prose, but he didn't anticipate the words having as strong an effect on him as they did Elena. He was wrong. He gulped to clear his throat. "Your slightest look easily will unclose me though I have closed myself as fingers, you open always petal by petal as Spring opens (touching skillfully, mysteriously) her first rose."

"e.e. cummings," Elena murmured. Her nails dug into the skin at Damon's scalp as she pressed into him, craving his closeness like a drug. Damon groaned at the sensation. He gently bit her ear as his hands skimmed over the planes of her stomach.

"Lilt me your lips, our lost breath intermingling. Synchronize our silence as lazy hours ease by. Waft cocoa, hazelnut, cinnamon, scents around me. Tremble with me  
>in paralyzing pauses. I may no longer breathe without breathing you."<p>

Elena knew she would collapse if she was left to her own devices. Thank goodness she and Damon showed no inclination to step away from each other. At this point, it was growing difficult to tell where his body started and hers stopped. "Judith Pordon," she gasped, letting her hands press down on the muscles of his upper body. She felt his breath hitch as her fingers danced across his covered nipples. She wondered which one of them would combust first if they touched each other without any barriers.

"God, Elena," Damon hissed. Did she mean to drive him mad with want? Did she know what her hands did to him? His gentle nips at her ear became more forceful as his mouth traveled down the line of her neck. Without removing his lips from her skin, he flipped them around in a quick move that had him pressing Elena against the conference room table. Their hands explored each other more frantically as Damon's kisses against Elena's neck and collarbone grew feverish with desire.

"More, Damon," Elena whimpered as she pawed at him. More spine melting poetry, more kisses that set her blood and flesh and heart ablaze, more more more.

"Anything," he panted, fiercely kissing her mouth for seconds before pulling back to rest his forehead against hers. His hands clenched the hem of her silk shirt, itching to rip it off her. His lips barely touched her as he spoke.

"I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way."

"Neruda," Elena gasped before she yanked Damon's mouth down to hers.

Lips mashed against each other. Teeth gnashed. Tongues battled for dominance. Elena's hands fisted in Damon's hair as she struggled to keep up with the furious pace of his lips. They devoured. Ravished. Plundered. They took and took and took, and Elena was more than happy to give Damon and his lips everything they demanded of her. Fireworks exploded behind her eyes when he sucked her lower lip into his mouth and bit down, causing her to cry out before he soothed the broken flesh with the gentle rub of his tongue. She felt as if she were on fire, blazing and burning so brightly every time his lips and hands and body seized hers.

Damon couldn't get enough of her. No matter how greedily he consumed her, no matter how he gulped down her taste as if she was the only thing to drink for miles, he couldn't get enough of her. Lust ripped through his body faster than a lightning strike and left nothing but his ravenous need to fuel him. He pushed her onto the table with a carnivorous growl, causing an uncommonly wanton sob to escape Elena's mouth. His eyes felt black as night as he ripped her shirt over her head and tossed it to the side, making similarly quick work of his own shirt before feasting his lips on hers once more.

Pale and olive skin moved against each other as hands clashed in their need to touch everything at the same time. Elena's fingers slid down Damon's bare back, savoring the way his muscles flexed to bring her pleasure. She curved towards him as his lips skipped down her body, pressing hot, wet kisses along the outline of her silk bra. She felt her nipples erect themselves underneath her lingerie, demanding attention from Damon's skilled hands and mouth.

Damon was fully aware of the way Elena's breasts responded to him. He hungrily palmed them over the cream colored silk, kneading them as he kissed a trail down her upper body. His mouth rested over her covered nipple. He exhaled roughly, stifling a groan when he felt Elena squirm beneath him. His thumbs brushed over the tight buds once, then a second time before he pressed his mouth to the silk and gently bit down.

Elena had never experienced anything as erotic as the feel of Damon's teeth clamping around her. She cried out at the unfamiliar sensation, and his mouth jerked up from her. Concern flooded his blue eyes as his fingers pressed into the flesh of her hips.

"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

She ardently shook her head as she shoved his face to her breast again. "More. Please."

Those two words were all the permission Damon needed. He suckled her silk covered nipple as his hands slunk around to the back clasp of her bra. He needed her bare for him. Raw. Needy. Exposed.

As his fingers were about to flick the hook open, his vampire hearing picked up on a clacking noise that quickly grew louder. He paused his actions and tilted his head towards the conference room door.

Footsteps.

Three, possibly four sets of them.

All of which were currently headed towards the conference room.

"Fuck," he muttered, letting his hands and mouth linger on Elena's flesh for a second longer before he reluctantly pulled them away from her. She looked up at him, her expression a mixture of confusion and lusty daze. He would have laughed at how adorably rumpled she looked if he wasn't so pissed off at the people who were about to breast-block him.

"What's wrong?" Elena asked, startled at the unusually drowsy quality of her voice. Damon had kissed, licked, and bitten her nerves into a fog of bliss, one that she didn't want to leave. She couldn't help but pout when he tugged his shirt back over his torso and removed the perfect view she had of his body.

Damon took one look at Elena's frown and released a string of low curses underneath his breath at the people who dared to interrupt their conference room tryst. He briefly considered compelling all of Elena's coworkers to avoid the room for the rest of the day so they could finish what they had started, but he knew Elena would feel uncomfortable using his supernatural abilities so she could goof off during working hours.

_Someday I'll take her on this table_.

"Four of your coworkers are currently walking towards this very room," he said, finally answering the question she asked ten seconds ago. He tenderly cupped her face in his hands and lowered his lips to hers, capturing them in a lazy, toe-curling kiss before grudgingly breaking away. "I'll take care of them while you compose yourself."

Elena's eyes widened as she frantically reached for her discarded top. "They're not going to fire me, are they?"

Damon laughed as he earnestly shook his head. He took her hands in his and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "They'll never know we were here. Trust me, Elena. Let me take care of you." He felt relieved when her nervous expression morphed into one of willing acceptance. He pulled her to him and held her tightly in his arms. "Come to the boarding house as soon as you're done with work."

"Yes." Anything to spend more time with him. Did she really need to spend seven more hours at work? She watched, entranced, as Damon placed a gentle kiss on the top of each of her hands. He bowed at her, shot her a look that made shivers race up and down her spine, and rushed out the door.

A blush stained Elena's cheeks as she hurried to pull her shirt over her head. A part of her almost felt grateful towards her coworkers for putting a halt to her and Damon's actions. She really needed to stop acting like such a little hussy whenever Damon was around. The way he pushed her down on the conference room table and took control of her body was something to fantasize about, not something to act out! Besides, she didn't want to give him mixed signals about what she wanted from their relationship. Telling him she wanted to hold off on physical activities and then meeting each other for early morning trysts were most definitely NOT similarly intentioned actions.

If only her body wasn't currently throbbing for him to come back and finish what he started...

Elena huffed underneath her breath. She ran shaky hands down her hair and shirt to remove the evidence of her encounter. She crept towards the conference room door and peered into the hallway. Clear, just as Damon had implied it would be. She smiled at the thought of him as she quietly walked down the hallway and back to her desk.

All of her flowers were gone from her desk area with the exception of the single red rose that lay across her keyboard. Elena assumed that Damon had brought her flowers home to incorporate them in his flower garden. She sat down in her chair and picked up the note beside the lone flower. The flush returned to her cheeks as she read Damon's elegant script.

_Tonight_.

That one written word was all it took to arouse Elena's body at the thought of her and Damon's reunion after work. She anxiously looked at the clock. 9:02 in the morning.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>Elena knew she had broken at least four traffic laws in her mad rush to get to Damon's boarding house after work. Her driving skills that afternoon resembled that of a stunt driver in a James Bond movie as she sped through Mystic Falls' downtown area. She crossed her fingers that the traffic lights she'd so zealously raced through didn't have any red light cameras installed.<p>

She had hundreds of dollars in speeding tickets to look forward to if anyone caught her driving antics on film.

Her brakes squealed as she slid into the parking area in front of the Salvatore boarding house. She grabbed her messenger bag in one hand before she opened the driver's door and got out of the car. She briefly considered going directly to the backyard to see the progress Damon made on the flower garden, but she decided to drop her things off in the boarding house first. Her red pumps made hollow sounds against the asphalt driveway as she briskly walked to the boarding house front door. She turned the doorknob and let herself inside.

Elena had barely stepped into the house before a flash of pale, muscular arms violently pinned her to the back of the front door. A pair of sapphire eyes abruptly filled her vision. She squeaked at the sudden movement. The familiar scent of mint, spice, and man assaulted her senses as soft lips crashed down on hers.

Damon now knew what it felt like to explode. His earlier tryst with Elena had coiled his limbs tighter than any spring. He'd spent the entire afternoon working on the flower garden with an insanely painful hard-on. Even the slightest brush of his length against his jeans wound him up into a giant mass of dynamic sexual frustration. He knew he had to take Elena the second he heard her car arrive outside. His body's desires easily overpowered the tiny voice in the back of his head telling him to control himself. If her day was anywhere nearly as agonizing as his was, she wouldn't deny him what he craved so desperately.

Elena vaguely registered the sound of ripping silk as she suddenly felt a rush of warm air tear across her upper body. Her shirt fell in tatters to the floor. Strong, capable hands cupped her bottom and lifted her against the door. Her legs wrapped around Damon's waist, bringing both of their heated cores in contact with each other. He moaned loudly as she rolled her hips against him, desperate to relieve the aching pressure that had enslaved them both all day. His lips attacked any bare inch of her skin he could find, demanding gasps and sighs and purrs from her with teeth and tongue.

"I want you so badly," he growled against her chest, breathing hotly over her covered breast. "Please tell me I can have you."

Elena's senses were muddled past the point of articulation. "Yes." Her hands fisted Damon's hair as he used his teeth to rip her bra from his chest. His lips immediately clamped down on her pebbled nipple. She cried out, thrusting into him. Oh God, the things he was doing to her with his mouth. Her blood felt as molten as lava as his mouth suckled her nipple before rolling it around in his mouth. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he repeated the same action on the other breast. His fingers grazed over the abandoned nipple. Elena shivered and grasped at him, attempting to pull him even closer to her. She couldn't think, could only feel as Damon continued to tug and knead and tweak her sensitive buds with his hands and mouth. Her eyes fluttered closed.

The hard door that pressed against Elena's back disappeared. Another sudden gust of air rushed over her body as Damon's hands continued their voracious assault on her. She felt the abrupt sensation of falling before her back slammed into a cushion of silk. Damon's mouth hovered over her. She whimpered when he didn't drop it to her flesh.

"Open your eyes, Elena," he ordered, his voice rough and low. "I need to see you. I need to see what I do to you." He licked a sluggish circle around her nipple that caused her to cry out. "Open your eyes _now_, Elena."

His words held her captive. She forced her eyes open and saw him watching her with a predatory expression. He looked feral. Dangerous. Determined to make her scream with desire.

She _loved_ it.

"You're so fucking beautiful," he rasped, keeping his eyes latched on hers as he traced designed all over her breast with his tongue. She whimpered, attempting to squirm under the delicious feel of his strong body pressed on hers. He wouldn't let her budge as he repeated the motion on the other breast. "So responsive. You react to everything I do to you. I fucking love that."

He lifted his head up and nibbled at the sensitive skin at the hollow of her neck. "I've been thinking about what we did in the conference room all day, Elena. Did you think about what we did, too?"

Elena twisted her head to give him better access to her skin. "Uh huh."

Damon chuckled against her flesh. The vibrations fueled the sparks that already danced through Elena's blood. He nipped his way up to her ear.

"I've spent all day thinking about what we would have done in that conference room if we weren't interrupted, Elena." He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth. "I came up with a lot of ideas. You were wearing those fuckhot heels of yours in all of them. I can't wait to feel those heels digging in my ass as I take you over and over again."

A gasp flew from Elena's lips at Damon's explicit suggestion. Her legs wrapped around his waist as she yanked his mouth down to hers. They both moaned at the close contact. Damon began to rock his hips into Elena's heat, stifling a growl every time his length touched her center through the fabric of their pants. As his thrusts sped up, he felt her heels prodding his backside. He frantically broke their kiss, his blue eyes wide and dark.

"We have to stop," he panted, unable to resist fiercely kissing Elena one more time. He grabbed both of her hands with his and interlaced their fingers.

"What? Why?" She tried to lower his head to hers once more, knowing her muscles were no match to his vampire strength.

The devil on Damon's shoulder – and the voice in his dick – shouted equally loud curses at him for his attempt to be a gentleman. "Because I won't be able to stop myself if we keep doing what you're doing, and I didn't know if that's what you wanted." An impish grin spread across his lips. "It's what _I _want, if that helps to sway your decision."

Elena groaned at the ceiling, knowing Damon was right. His appeal really was too intoxicating for her own good. "No, you're right. We should stop."

"No! Forget I said anything! You remember nothing of the past thirty seconds!" he teased, rolling off of Elena. He tickled her sides, delighting in her carefree giggles. She only laughed like that for _him_. He supposed that knowledge was slightly better than sex.

The voice in his dick begged to disagree.

Elena's heart grew for the man who acted seductive one minute and playful the next. She knew she'd attack Damon if they continued to lie on his bed, so she sat up and touched her feet to the floor. Knowing his eyes were glued to her, she added a purposeful sway to her walk as she sauntered over to his dresser. She pulled out one of his black shirts to replace the one he'd so adamantly destroyed. Maintaining his eye contact, she shot him a knowing smile as she slowly slipped the shirt over her body. Damon groaned. He flashed over to her side the second she laughed at his tortured state, peppering her neck and face with brisk kisses that made her squeal with delight.

"Christ, woman, you are going to be the true death of me," he growled. "You even make getting dressed sexy...and that's something that's never sexy. How do you do that?"

"I can't tell you all of my secrets, Damon," Elena giggled. He narrowed his eyes and pouted at her response. She laughed, kissed him briefly on the nose, and grabbed his hand. "Come on, show me what the flower garden looks like today."

* * *

><p>Elena was impressed at the progress Damon and his landscapers made that day. They spent the majority of their time working on the koi pond installation. First they had to place the pond pump inside of the pond skimmer. Their next step was to install a waterfall on the opposite side of the pond as the pump. They then dug a ditch around the waterfall and covered the entire area with liner before filling the pond with water. The liner didn't leak, so he'd added the necessary gravel and rocks to the pond. He was currently waiting for the pond to dechlorinate before the fish could be added.<p>

"How long will you wait to do that?" she asked, frowning at the empty hole. Damon captured her hand in his and gently squeezed it.

"Traditional koi ponds need to dechlorinate for at least a week before it's safe to add the koi," he began, noting the way Elena's face fell at the mention of waiting a week, "but apparently the dechlorinators John Lawn uses are fact acting, turbo-charged little things. He assured me we'll have fish in the pond by Sunday."

Elena's eyes lit up. "Sunday? That's so soon! You have to have everyone over to see what you've done with the backyard."

Damon's brow furrowed. He let himself forget that his and Elena's current state of isolation was only temporary. He wasn't looking forward to sharing her with everyone once they all returned from their respective trips.

"Yeah, maybe," he finally conceded, pulling her hand up to his mouth for a kiss. Talking about the finished koi pond suddenly didn't seem as exciting as it had before. Eager to change the subject, he swung her up on his back and walked them towards the boarding house.

"Hungry?"

Her eyes flashed, but that had nothing to do with the status of her stomach. He certainly didn't need to know the true source of her appetite. "Starving."

If Damon picked up on the double entendre of Elena's response, he didn't show any indication of it. "Come on pretty girl, I'll fix us something to eat."

* * *

><p>The chicken marsala Damon cooked tasted just as delicious as last night's chicken parmigiana. The stories Elena and Damon swapped over musty attic boxes were just as sentimental as the ones they told over Damon's Confederate army uniform. Once again, the night Elena shared with Damon was perfect, and as the grandfather clock chimed at 10:00, she realized that she really didn't want to go. She knew that not spending the night with him was the smart decision to make, especially when she had the last day of her internship the next morning, but damn it all if her body wasn't craving a night in Damon's arms.<p>

Elena sighed as the clock finished ringing. She slowly got to her feet and dusted her pants. "I guess I'd better get going."

Damon's eyes widened as he flew to his feet. "What? Why? Stay a little longer." He needed more time with her. He could never get enough time with her.

She looked at her watch and gave it a wistful grimace. "Tomorrow's the last day of my internship. I should really go home—"

"Stay."

Elena mouth opened to finish her thought, but Damon's request rendered her temporarily speechless. "What?"

He stepped to her and gently gripped her hips. "Stay." His eyes searched hers, desperate to find anything he could use to keep her with him tonight.

"Damon, I don't know—"

"Elena, just hear me out," he said, rubbing the fabric over her hips. "Nothing has to happen. Actually...God, I can't believe I'm actually proposing this idea...nothing _will_ happen. I just want you around."

Elena tried to hide how affected she was by the way Damon's voice pleaded with her. She really did want to stay with him...and he'd managed to stop them twice before, which proved that he could be trusted to honor her requests. But still, spending the night with Damon on a work night? With the way their bodies reacted to each other?

"Do you promise that I'll get a full eight hours of sleep tonight?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "I don't want to fall asleep at the newspaper picnic tomorrow because I've been fighting off your advances all night."

The light in Damon's eyes flashed. Elena was teasing him. Surely this was a good sign. "As long as you make the same promise to me, Elena," he said, giving her rear a playful pinch. "I can't afford to have dark circles under my eyes tomorrow because you decide to get handsy with me during the night. It's not an unlikely possibility, really. I've been told that I'm _irresistible_."

Elena snorted as she shoved Damon's hands away from her. "I can resist you tonight."

"And I can resist you, Elena. Don't assume that the way I can't stop kissing you," he placed a sweet kiss on the upturned corner of her mouth, "and the way I can't stop touching you," he trailed his hands slowly up and down her sides, "means that I can't keep my hands to myself for an excruciating eight hours."

Elena huffed. "We'll just see about that."

Thirty minutes later, her head had barely hit one of the pillows on Damon's bed before she felt his arm slink around her waist. "I thought you could resist me tonight." He scoffed against her back. The feel of his warm breath against the skin that her sleeveless shirt didn't cover caused goosebumps to sprout across her body. She allowed Damon to pull her against his body and allowed herself to nestle in his warmth.

"I said I _could_ resist you, Elena. I didn't say that I wouldn't."

A sleepy smile spread across Elena's face. "Good night, Damon."

"Sweet dreams, beautiful Elena."

Elena allowed her eyes to drift shut. As sleep began to overcome her, she heard Damon's velvet voice once again.

"Elena?"

"Yes, Damon?"

"I still want to see your birthmark."

* * *

><p><strong>I'm back! Is anyone still excited to read this? Are you all ready to throw virtual tomatoes my way for making you wait so long for another chapter? I'm truly sorry about the long wait, I really am. My class ended last week, so I now have nothing standing in the way of writing the rest of this story. I (optimistically) hope to finish Birthmark before the end of the year and will be writing like a mad woman to bring you the next chapter as quickly as possible!<strong>

**Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far. I know I've failed at responding to your reviews, and I plan to spend the next several days righting that wrong. Your words rock my socks off. Please leave me some review love for this chapter and let me know if you liked the return of Birthmark! And when you're done that, if you haven't done so already please scoot on over to the one shot I recently posted - Mystic Falls' Flicks - read it, and leave me some love there! I know, I'm such a review hussy. But I love you. I really do.**

**Favorite holiday song? **


	7. Chapter 7

The shrill sound of a cell phone alarm slowly penetrated Elena's sleep haze. She groaned, a soft, rumpled sound, and attempted to burrow herself deeper into Damon's strong arms that held her captive the entire night. His warmth curled around her body, creating an impossibly comfortable haven from the outside world. She nestled her head in the crook of his neck and inhaled the swatch of skin at the hollow of his throat, sighing when traces of mint and spice filled her nose. Damon's sharp aroma had quickly become her favorite scent. Elena never knew that a fragrance could simultaneously comfort and arouse, but it seemed that Damon's smell had direct access to her internal controls. It was thrilling to realize that something as basic as a smell had such a powerful effect on her. Unable to resist, she placed her lips over the pulse of his throat, letting them linger long enough to feel his blood pump through his veins.

The sound of her alarm grew louder. With a grimace, Elena turned out of Damon's grasp and flung her hand to his end table. She slapped her fingers over the cell phone and briskly pulled it into her palm. The lit screen blared the time into her furrowed eyes. 7:05 in the morning. Crap. Elena quickly turned off the offending sound. She swung her legs out from underneath the silk sheets and gently touched her toes to the hardwood floor. As she prepared to stand up, she felt Damon's arms wrap around her waist. They held her firmly in place.

"I know you're not going to leave _my_ bed without giving me a good morning kiss, Elena."

Elena giggled as Damon pulled her back down to his soft mattress. He threw a leg over hers and inched their bodies closer together. She looked over to his side of the bed and saw his teasing blue eyes watching her. The smile on his face was lazy and content.

"Good morning, Damon."

"Good morning, Elena. Now kiss me."

Elena cocked an eyebrow at him as a smirk spread across her face. "Are you going to be this demanding every morning?"

"You like it." He rolled his body on top of hers and playfully stretched, making sure to gently press every inch of his skin against hers. "Now stop talking and kiss me, woman."

Elena couldn't help but grin at the urgency in Damon's voice. She tipped her face to his and pressed her lips against his mouth. Spurred on by the way his muscles melted at her touch, she drew his lower lip into her mouth and gently bit down. The low moan that escaped his mouth was nothing short of energizing, and she continued to suck and nibble at his lips until she wasn't sure she could retain control over her urges to do more. She released his mouth with a soft pop and looked up at his face to see the results of her work.

Half-closed, sated eyes. Flushed cheeks. Kiss-bitten lips. Chest rising rapidly with heavy breaths.

Elena figured that kiss was a more than adequate way to say good morning.

Damon's entire body had turned supple. He allowed Elena to roll them over so she straddled him. He choked as he felt her brush against his steel length. He throbbed for her touch. His hands fisted the silk sheets beneath him as she leaned close to his face.

"Was that as good for you as it was for me?"

Damon groaned. Her voice dripped with sexual promise and endless pleasure, and he felt his cock twitch at her deliberately seductive words. His fingers clawed into his mattress.

She would be naked and underneath him in _seconds_ if he let go anytime soon.

"Elena," he rasped, forcing his eyes open to look at her. She looked fucking incredible perched on top of him. Lean bronzed limbs that soothed him with a tender touch just as easily as they wrapped around him in the throes of heated passion. Coffee colored eyes that he willingly drowned in whenever she looked at him. Pillow-soft lips that gave and took and gave again.

She was _perfect_. She was his.

Elena's center of gravity shifted whenever Damon looked at her _that_ way. Flashes of heat crackled through her body as he feasted on her with his darkened blue eyes. She knew that look. His expression reflected a man on the edge of self control, a man whose restraint could snap at the slightest action. He looked fierce and lethal. She sighed at the way his muscles coiled underneath his skin, reveling in his supernatural strength.

"Yes, Damon?"

He felt his loins pulse at the innocent veneer of her voice. They both knew that she was as innocent as Cleopatra, Jezebel, and Delilah combined. His voice shook as his eyes bored directly into hers.

"If you speak to me in that voice again anytime soon, your legs are going to be fucking sky high in the air as I pound into you over and over again, and the only thing that'll escape from those fucking pouty lips of yours is _my_ name," he growled, feeling the fabric rip beneath his fingers as they thrashed to make good on his words. He could sense the entire scene in his head. Her slim, tan legs draped over his shoulders as he took her hard and fast. The slapping sound of skin furiously meeting skin warred with their breathless gasps. Their smells of honey and spice and flowers and mint blended together with the sharp odor of their arousal.

Holy _fuck_, if she didn't stop straddling him this second he wouldn't wait for her to say anything. He'd gladly take her that way right now.

Elena saw the struggle in Damon's eyes, the conflict between surrendering to his primal instincts and restraining himself to behave like the gentleman she asked him to be. While she felt proud of herself for having the ability to rile him this way, she didn't want him to slip because she'd had a little too much fun seducing him. That wouldn't be fair and she knew it. She slowly slipped off his waist, careful to avoid contact with a particular part of his anatomy that had _certainly_ made itself known. She reached out for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, trying to reassure him that she understood why he said the things he did. His expression notably relaxed at her gesture. She gave him a small smile before she stood up and walked over to her messenger bag, grabbing her shower essentials and a change of clothes. Her feet softly padded to his bathroom. She sent him another sweet smile before slipping inside the room and closing the door behind her.

Damon groaned loudly as soon as he heard Elena step into the running shower. He attempted to regain command over his body for the first time since she kissed him this morning. Holy hell, that kiss. He expected something chaste from her, but the things she did to his mouth were wicked and sinful and everything he never knew he wanted to wake up to feel. His lips felt hyper sensitized at her touch. He felt every little motion she made, every slick pass of her tongue over his lip, every vibration from the sexy little mewls she made as she worked him with a mouth that seemed designed to bring him pleasure.

That mouth was _his_ mouth. He alone would feel it pressed against him. He alone would learn its secrets, would memorize what made her sigh from one kiss and moan from another.

Thinking about Elena's mouth did not provide Damon with the relaxation he needed at this point in the morning. He looked down at his cock and saw it straining against his silk boxers, begging him to release it from its fabric prison. He briefly considered rubbing a quick one out, but because the remainder of the bathrooms in the boarding house were under construction, he decided to abstain until Elena left for work.

Besides, he assumed that Elena didn't need the distraction of walking out of the bathroom and discovering him stroking his cock on his bed. Surely she'd offer to "help" him...and her "help" would lead them into other "activities"...and by the time they'd even consider taking a break from those "activities", she would have missed her entire day of work AND the company picnic afterwards.

Yes, that was _exactly_ what would happen if Elena walked in on him jacking off.

_Yeah right, Salvatore_.

Damon grumbled inaudible curses underneath his breath as he got off his bed and trudged over to his dresser. He grabbed a black tank top out of the top drawer and tugged it over his body, wincing at the unwelcome feel of more fabric against his skin.

The less clothes, the better, right?

He heard Elena turn the shower off. The fresh aroma of honeyed nature wafted through the air. He inhaled deeply, finding comfort in the fragrance the same way his younger, human self used to appreciate waking up to the smells of crisp bacon and freshly baked bread.

What food did Elena like to smell first thing in the morning? What was her breakfast of choice?

He strode over to the bathroom door and rapped on it with his knuckles. "Hey, Elena?" He withheld a chuckle when he heard her jump at the unexpected noise. "What do you want for breakfast?"

He could hear her shuffling around the room. It sounded like she was trying to zip up her dress and brush her hair at the same time. The mundane sounds of her morning routine made him smile. There was something so homely about listening to her get ready in his bathroom.

The noises momentarily paused as she stopped to answer his question. "Oh, I normally just grab an apple and a cup of coffee as I run out the door."

"Gala? Red Delicious? Macintosh? Granny Smith?" He couldn't help but smile as he heard Elena's muffled laugh on the other side of the door. "Cream? Sugar? Both? Neither? Do you drink flavored coffee?"

"Damon, you're ridiculous."

He leaned against the doorframe, unwilling to be rebuffed so easily. "Hey, if you're not going to let me cook you a proper plantation breakfast, the least you could do is tell me your favorite type of apple and how you take your coffee."

"Damon, I can pick my own apple and make my own cup of coffee."

He threw up his hands and sighed dramatically. "Can you tell me what your preferences are just so I know? Sharing is caring, Elena. I'm a Granny Smith man, myself. Ain't nothing like biting into the juicy center of Granny A."

"Ugh, don't be gross!"

"Facts are facts, Elena. Now tell me your preferred apple and how you like your coffee."

"Gosh Damon, you're almost as persistent about this as you are about trying to find my birthmark!"

Both sides of the door were strangely silent. Elena realized she had accidentally shifted their focus to a subject she didn't particularly want to talk about. Damon felt his libido pick up at the thought of Elena's birthmark hiding somewhere on her body, just waiting to be discovered.

He would much rather learn the location of her special mark than know about her apple and coffee inclinations.

"Tell me the location of your birthmark and I'll leave you alone about coffee and apples," he finally said in a deliberately flirtatious voice. He heard Elena stumble at his words. The sound of rolling bottles and fallen cosmetics followed shortly afterwards.

"How about I tell you about my breakfast choices and you stop asking about my birthmark."

"Not a chance, Elena. That birthmark is mine to discover." He pressed his lips against the door. "You have to give me one answer in order to leave this bathroom. Breakfast or birthmark, Elena? What's it going to be?"

Her answer came immediately. "Hazelnut with cream and sugar, Gala."

"One fancy coffee and one Gala apple coming right up!"

Damon tried to not be too disappointed at the question Elena chose to answer. He reassured himself that he'd have the answer to the other question in less than a month…or even less than that, if he had anything to say about it.

He felt sure that he could write a _sonnet_ about that delectable little mark that Elena was hiding from him.

Damon headed downstairs and went straight to his kitchen. He rummaged through his cabinets and found some old coffee grounds that Zach, the last human resident of the boarding house, had stored away. They weren't hazelnut flavored, but they'd have to do. He'd go grocery shopping for Elena later today.

Damon stared at the fancy coffee machine sitting on the kitchen countertop for a good minute. Where the hell did the coffee go? And what the hell were all these buttons? He frowned at the complicated appliance and eventually decided to dump the coffee grounds into the large funnel shaped hole at the top of the machine.

_A coffee machine will not blow up the boarding house, Salvatore. You're making a drink, not a nuclear bomb._

Temporarily reassured that his house would remain intact, Damon shuffled over to the fruit basket and peered inside it. Several apples with red and yellow skins balanced precariously on top of each other. Were these Gala apples? They had to be. They certainly weren't his or Stefan's, and no one else kept food in the boarding house but Elena. He plucked a shiny apple from the top of the basket and set it aside before eyeing the oddly silent coffee maker.

Positive that the machine was supposed to make some sort of brewing noise, Damon walked over to the countertop and pressed one of the silver buttons. Nothing happened. Frustrated, he pushed down hard on another button. Still nothing. His hands flew up to his hair and hastily ran through the disheveled strands as he glared at the difficult contraption. He ran his finger across all of the buttons and let out a series of colorful curses when the machine still failed to do anything.

A musical giggle sounded from behind him. Damon whirled around and saw Elena standing in the doorway. Her small frame shook as she held her hand to her mouth in attempt to muffle the laughter that threatened to break through…at his expense! Damon refocused his glare on her, which only made her laughs louder and more frequent. He threw his hands up in the air.

"Go ahead, laugh at me."

Elena's laughter broke through in loud guffaws. She walked over to the machine, rummaged behind it, and surfaced with an electric plug in her hand. Damon huffed as she made a grand show about plugging the appliance into the nearby wall outlet. She pressed two buttons. The coffee began to brew.

Damon rolled his eyes, trying to not let on that his male pride had been trounced by a fucking coffee machine. "Remember Elena, strapping men such as myself didn't need fancy machines to cook our food back in the day."

"Yes Damon, clearly you're too advanced for Keurig," Elena deadpanned as she moved around the kitchen. He grunted, unable to think of a decent response. His demeanor increased only slightly when Elena made her way over to him and pressed a sweet kiss to his mouth.

"Thank you for being willing to tackle modern machinery to make me coffee, Damon," she said, nuzzling his neck in that adorable way of hers that made him want to wrap his arms around her and simply hold her for hours. He ignored the hint of snark in her voice and closed the space between their bodies.

"Anything for you, dearest," he sang-song, gently rocking their joined bodies back and forth. He took one of her small hands in his and playfully twirled her outwards, rotating their wrists so she spun underneath his arm. Her eyes flashed with delight as he pulled her back to him and cupped her waist with a gentle hand.

"Damon, what are you…"

"Dance with me."

They moved together in the middle of his kitchen, him wearing nothing but boxers and a tank top, her already dressed for work in a gauzy floral dress and strappy tan heels, dancing to the silent melodies that waltzed through both of their heads. Elena rested her head against Damon's cheek and sighed at the way his rough stubble grazed her skin. She loved how feminine she felt in his arms and hoped that there would be music tonight at the newspaper picnic so she could dance with him again.

Damon knew he'd transformed into a ridiculous sap since Wednesday night, but he couldn't find it in himself to care as he led Elena across the kitchen floor. He knew she loved to dance. Stefan didn't share her love of the sport and was never willing to teach her the classic moves she so ardently desired to learn, but he enjoyed dancing just as much as she did. He couldn't wait to teach her some of the favorite dances he'd learned over the years and take her to dance clubs on dates. Spending an evening doing the jive, tango, or rumba with Elena sounded like perfection to him.

He felt Elena fidget beneath him. Loosening his hold on her, he looked down to see her observe the time on her wristwatch. She sighed and his insides sank ever so slightly, knowing it was time for her to leave. She hugged him before detangling herself from his grasp. He watched her walk over to the coffee machine and pour the dark liquid into her travel mug. She then slipped the apple inside her messenger bag. As she looked at the kitchen door, he flew to her side, unwilling to let her part just yet.

"When can I see you today?"

"You're coming to my picnic after work, right?" He nodded as she looped the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "I guess I'll see you then."

His lower lip thrust out in a pout. "That's not soon enough."

Elena couldn't help but laugh at the childlike displeasure of Damon's long face. "Just think, after the party I'm coming with you back to your place…for the entire weekend…where we can do all sorts of fun things together."

He felt his body react to Elena's implication. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

He quickly hurled a squealing Elena over his shoulder and raced them both upstairs. "Get to work already, woman! The sooner you get there, the sooner your picnic starts, which means the sooner we can leave and have that…fun…together."

"Damon, put me down!"

"Nope." He walked them outside to the side of her car. Unable to resist, he started to spin around, laughing as Elena clutched his shoulders with shrieks that sounded loud enough to wake the entire town. After several more seconds of spinning, he gradually slowed his motions and touched Elena's feet to the ground. A goofy grin spread across his face as he watched her teeter around, trying to regain her balance. When she finally stood still without wobbling, she shot a glare at him that was anything but serious.

"You're going to pay for that later, Salvatore," she warned, unlocking her car and tossing her bag on the passenger seat. Damon stepped towards her and backed them both into the car's metal frame. He cupped her face in his hands.

"Punish me, Elena," he drawled, slowly inching his face towards hers. "I've been very bad this morning."

"Yes, you have," she murmured, wrapping her arms around Damon's neck to close those final inches of distance between him and her. His lips moved softly against hers, so unlike the kiss she'd given him this morning and yet it floored both of them the same way. He withdrew from her quickly, his blue eyes searching her brown ones for something she couldn't quite place.

"See you in eight hours?"

"Not a minute later."

Damon held Elena's coffee mug as she slid into her car. He handed it to her and watched her place it in the cup holder. She pulled her door closed and gave him a genuine smile before turning her keys in the ignition.

"Love you."

"Love you too," he said quietly. He watched her back out of his driveway and move onto the road. As soon as the car disappeared from his sight, he released a strong sigh. Would watching her leave – despite knowing he would see her in a few hours – always ache this way?

Of course it would. Elena had that effect on him.

Damon ran his hands through his hair once again as he trudged back to the boarding house. He peeled his tank top off his chest as he walked up to his bedroom. Elena's scent hit him in waves, and he quickly divested himself of his suffocating boxers.

_Eight hours_, he repeated throughout the duration of his shower. _Eight hours, eight hours, eight hours_.

* * *

><p>"Elena, can you and Brian run over to the store and pick up the things on this list before you head over to the quarry? Here, take the newspaper credit card to pay for everything…"<p>

Elena's eyes widened as the editor of the newspaper thrust a piece of paper and a credit card in her face before striding away from her cubicle. She peered over the grey dividers to Brian's cubicle and saw that he wore a sour expression that surely matched hers. They hadn't spoken in nearly two days, and the angry tension between them drove Elena crazy. She was still mad at him for the implications he'd made about her and Damon's relationship, but she also missed being able to talk to her only friend in the newspaper office.

Brian may not want to go with her to the grocery store, but she saw this unplanned trip as a potential way to reconnect before the end of the summer.

Elena scanned her desk area to make sure that she'd cleaned out all of the personal items she'd accumulated over her summer. Upon finding nothing left, she took her bag out of the closet and slung it over her shoulder. Her head twisted towards Brian's cubicle.

"You coming?"

He looked up. Surprise that she was talking to him momentarily replaced the scowl on his face. "You go ahead; I'll meet you at your car."

Elena nodded and started to go to the front of the office. She promised several people that she'd see them later at the picnic before she pushed through the front doors and walked to her car. She slung her messenger bag and empty coffee mug in her back seat before hopping behind the wheel. She saw Brian's lanky figure leave the office several minutes later. Her fingers drummed against the windowsill as she watched him approach her car.

He opened the passenger door with a resigned expression on his face. He placed his briefcase on the carpet at his feet before he closed the door and buckled his seat belt. Elena glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

The drive to the supermarket was silent the entire way. Elena thought the tension in the car was going to suffocate them before they reached the grocery store. Despite the air conditioning that currently blasted their faces, she cracked the back windows in attempt to release some of their strain into the balmy afternoon air. When she finally pulled into a parking place at the store, they both leapt out of the car, equally eager to escape its smothering confines.

Elena was determined to converse with Brian – no matter how uncomfortable it would be – before they left the store. She looked down at the list and saw that it was rather large. They wouldn't be able to carry all of the items in their hands alone.

"Can you grab us a basket? This list is pretty extensive."

Brian jumped, caught off guard once again by the sound of Elena's voice directed at him. Elena watched him register what she said, and he picked up a plastic basket at the store entryway.

_Pulling teeth would be less painful than this._

She plastered a casual expression on her face and glanced down at the paper her boss had shoved in her hand. "Okay, so we need to get hot dog and hamburger buns, watermelon, condiments, napkins, some sort of drink, oh, and hot dogs and hamburgers. Where should we go first?"

She half expected him to ignore her again, so she studied the aisle listing near the store entryway.

"Bread products are in the second aisle."

The quiet sound of his voice was so unexpected that it made Elena stop mid-walk. She tried to keep the delighted smile from her face, secretly thrilled that he was finally talking to her…about hamburger rolls, of all things. "Lead the way."

They walked side by side, past the aisles of soup and cookies and rice, all the way at the beginning of the store to the bread aisle. Elena glanced down at the list again.

"Three packs of hamburger rolls, two packs of hot dog buns."

She moved down the aisle and stood in front of the surplus of bread choices. He walked and stopped beside her. They stared at what seemed like five hundred different kinds of rolls.

"All of these options are unnecessary," Brian muttered underneath his breath. "Who needs to decide between four different brands of potato rolls?"

"It does make the shopping experience slightly more difficult," Elena agreed. "I guess I'm not sophisticated enough to care about how Schmidts' potato rolls have slightly more of an essence du potato than Martins' potato rolls."

Brian chuckled. "You're a regular potato roll primate, you are."

"Pretty sure that's going to be my senior year superlative: Elena Gilbert, Anti-Potato Roll Snob."

"You'll certainly be remembered."

"That's exactly what I'm going for."

They fell back into silence once again, only this time it didn't feel so stifling. Brian casually led them from aisle to aisle, and every time they stood in front of the item they sought after, they talked some more. When they finally accumulated everything on the list, they moved to the checkout line. Elena began to load the food on the conveyor belt.

"Is Damon coming tonight?"

Her hands stilled at Brian's unexpected question. She hesitantly glanced at him, worried that the wrong answer would condemn their easy conversation back to silence and angry glances. When she looked at him, she didn't see the resentment that haunted his face for the previous two days.

"Yes," she slowly said, unsure of how much to tell Brian about her Damon's presence at the quarry. She watched Brian nod, almost as if he was settling something within himself. After a long pause, he looked at her, his eyes their usual light shade.

"That's cool."

Elena smiled at him, thrilled at the genuine acceptance that exuded from his voice. In that moment, standing in the checkout line, she knew things were going to be okay with them. "Yeah, it is."

* * *

><p>Damon felt the ceramic of the cake-covered plate he carried crumble underneath his hands. He'd arrived at the quarry pavilion early in the hopes that he'd get to see Elena sooner.<p>

He certainly didn't expect to see her pull into a parking space with _him_ in the passenger seat.

Venom pooled in his mouth. Jealously strangled his innards. He knew thousands of ways he could lure _him_ into the surrounding woods and end his pathetic existence for daring to be alone with his girl. _He _had spent all summer working mere feet away from her. _He_ had taken her out on a date before he did. _His_ blood would taste so sweet dripping down his throat…

"Damon!"

Elena's angelic voice briefly broke through Damon's vengeful thoughts of murder. He shook his head to push them from his mind, knowing she could read and understand him as easily as she did one of her Byron poems. His smile was forced as she skipped over to him, her arms overflowing with bags.

"You're here," she breathed, gently touching her lips to his. She leaned back when she felt his lack of reciprocation. Her eyes narrowed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Really, Damon?"

Her shrewdly perceptive tone undid him. "You arrived here with _him_?" he hissed, unable to mask the hatred in his voice. Her eyes widened for a second before shooting him a look that was more lethal than the combined powers of the Originals.

"My _boss_ asked both of us to go to the grocery store," she said, her toxic voice weakening him worse than a direct dose of vervain. Hadn't she reassured him of her love time and time again these past two days? Was he really so possessive of her, so insecure about their connection that she couldn't spend time with other men without him becoming dangerously jealous? He didn't want to be that man, didn't want to smother her with his constant need and hunger and urgency for her, but his inability to believe the strength of their bond has turned him into the monster that she didn't deserve.

Elena's arrival with Brian was an unplanned test, and Damon knew that he had failed it. He had failed Elena. His knowledge that he had disappointed her felt worse than anything in the world.

"Elena, I'm sorry—"

"We'll talk about this later," she snarled, snatching the broken cake from his hands before stomping over to the picnic table underneath the quarry pavilion.

Damon cursed as soon as Elena moved out of earshot. He didn't know whether she wanted him to follow her and beg for her forgiveness or if she needed him to give her space before they could be together.

He would do whatever she asked of him, no matter how painful her request could be.

Damon condemned himself to the edge of the quarry for the next several minutes. His eyes never left Elena. He watched her greet her coworkers and their families as they arrived in their hybrids and their mini vans, a cheerful smile adorning her face as she relieved their overflowing arms of picnic essentials. He watched her move gracefully around the picnic tables, fluffing tablecloths and arranging food dishes and distributing the grilled meats around to everyone. He was especially intrigued by her interaction with Brian. The relaxed but distanced gait of her shoulders as they conversed made it obvious that nothing but friendship rested between them. Damon's self loathing increased tenfold as he realized just how stupidly he'd reacted as soon as they arrived together. He needed to make things up to her.

He needed to show Elena that he trusted her, trusted _them_ enough to accept and encourage her connection with Brian.

Unwilling to remain away from her any longer, Damon cautiously walked over to the pavilion. His kept his eyes glued on Elena as he approached her table. Her expression had lost some of its earlier fury, but he could see the frustration that still simmered beneath the surface.

"Is this seat taken?"

Elena shrugged. Brian looked back and forth between the couple, sensing that something was off. Damon felt grateful when Brian extended his hand to him in greeting. "Glad you could make it, man. Join us."

Damon didn't question Brian's apparently newfound acceptance of his presence in Elena's life. Feeling all too grateful to be in her presence once more, he shook Brian's outstretched hand and slid into the picnic table.

"Thanks…Brian," he said, withholding the snarky inflection from his name for the first time the entire summer. He saw Elena study him out of the corner of his eye, her surprise evident at his casual use of Brian's name. Eager to provide more proof that he was at ease with Brian's company, Damon directed his next words to him. "So Brian, got any plans between now and the start of the school year?"

Damon spent the remainder of the evening conversing with Brian about casual topics. He reluctantly admitted that Brian wasn't the lecherous female-snatcher he'd made him out to be. The kid's passion for his comics and art was admirable, and Damon enjoyed their lively debate over whether Batman or Spiderman was the better superhero.

The fact that they had this debate during a watermelon seed-spitting contest certainly didn't hurt matters.

He felt Elena's pinpointing eyes on him the entire evening. She never added much to their conversations, only a sentence here or there, but instead seemed content to sit and observe their strange approval of each other. The only hint Damon received that he had done anything right came at the end of the evening. When Brian opted to leave early and catch a ride back to the newspaper office with another coworker, Damon willingly shook his hand goodbye and wished him luck for the approaching school year. The corners of Elena's mouth had tweaked upwards, if only for a millisecond.

That millisecond was the most relaxed Damon had felt all night.

When the pavilion lights shut down, indicating the end of the night, Damon's eyes scoured the surrounding area for Elena.

He couldn't find her.

Panic swarmed Damon's mind as he performed a painstakingly thorough scan of the pavilion area. _Did she leave without saying anything? _He focused his enhanced hearing on any sound and instantly flashed to the source of the noise.

None of the sounds came from her.

Damon flew to the parking lot. He didn't know whether to feel more relieved or anxious that her car waited there without her. Rushing back to the pavilion, he stopped, stood in the center, and inhaled.

Elena's faint scent fluttered through his nose, its trails strongest at the outline of the woods.

Damon sprinted to the tree line at vampire speed, the aroma of honey and nature growing more powerful with every stride. When the iron tones of blood filled the air, he increased his speed, desperate to find the source.

He stopped in front of Elena about a hundred meters deep into the woods, his body skimming hers at the immediacy of his self-brake.

"Thank God," he cried out, cherishing the sweet relief of thanks that coursed through his veins. She was safe. Even if she hated him, she was safe.

Did she hate him?

Damon's eyes met Elena's. Her expression still remained inscrutable. The silence that passed between them felt deafening to Damon as he allowed Elena's glance to cut into his soul.

Unable to do anything else, he dropped to his knees at her feet.

"I'm sorry."

The words flew faster as Damon wrapped his arms around Elena's legs and pressed his head into her stomach, fully aware that he was begging her on the forest floor. "I'm so sorry, Elena. I love you. I'll do anything."

She didn't move as he clutched her body, only stood there and let him babble out apologies and endearments and chastisements of himself. When his words flowed to a halt and nothing remained but the needy way he held himself to her, she grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet. The heels she wore raised her to his eye level. He felt her brown orbs look intently into his blue ones.

The energy that snapped between them felt magnetic.

Elena held Damon's face in her hands. Her grip was tender and secure. Her touch tethered him to the ground.

As if he could move underneath the intensity of her gaze.

"Damon."

She'd said his name many times before. Sometimes it sounded breathy and light. Other times his name was said to warn or rebuke.

This time was different.

This time, Elena said his name with conviction. Those two syllables, those five letters were said with the intent to assure him of something.

"Please," he begged, needing the faith that dripped from those lips he worshipped. "Please."

She searched his eyes. For what, Damon didn't know. He only prayed that she found whatever she looked for.

"I'm not Katherine, Damon, and I need you to truly know that with every fiber of your being."

Damon didn't expect those words to come out of Elena's mouth. "I know that—"

"Hear me out, please?" Elena bit her lip as she tried to form the right words in her mouth. "I know that you're aware that I'm not Katherine on a basic level. You see that I treat others differently than she does…and I've implied that there are physical differences between us, too. But Damon, when I say I love you, I mean that I love you and no one else. I will never say that I love you and harbor a secret passion for someone on the side. You're the only one I want to be with. Being with you makes me feel better than anything I've ever known, and I wouldn't trade what we have for anything else in the world. I really,_ really_ need you to understand that and trust me…trust _us_. You don't need to be jealous if I'm around other men because I can guarantee that none of them even begin to compare to how wonderful you are."

Elena's words staggered Damon. The way she could always reach into the depths of his soul never ceased to amaze him. Only she could surface his hidden insecurities and show him that they were nothing to worry about. He didn't even realize that his reaction to Brian sourced from the years of manipulation Katherine inflicted on him. She engrained it in his system that he would always have to compete for a woman's love, regardless of whether or not she verbalized her affections.

He didn't have to compete anymore.

Elena loved him.

_Only_ him.

The significance behind that knowledge meant more than Damon could have ever imagined.

"Elena," he choked out, overcome by emotion. "You are _not_ Katherine."

And there in the woods, as silver moonlight washed over the tree leaves, their lips fused together in a deep, wild frenzy of salvation.

Damon moaned as Elena pressed herself hard against him. Her lips parted and she greedily sucked his tongue into her mouth, probing him with a savagery that pushed all rational thought out of his head. She walked them backwards, her kiss hot and hard and desperate as her hands dove deeper and deeper into fistfuls of his hair.

He gasped as his back slammed hard into something. She swallowed his air, attacking his lips with increased fervor. He melted into the urgency of her touch. Her hands roamed all over him, scratching and kneading and grasping at whatever flesh she could find. Her hurry made him deliriously happy. He couldn't get enough, could never get enough of the feelings of salvation that pounded from his chest whenever she was near.

Elena rolled her hips into Damon's, pushing him further into the tree his back currently pressed against. She whimpered at the contact in their heated areas. He felt so hard, and she was so wet. Maddening, torturous pressure shoved at her feminine core, reducing her to a writhing ball of need against his body. She needed relief. She needed him.

"Tell me again," she groaned against his lips as his hands shoved the straps of her dress down her shoulders. "Tell me I'm not Katherine. Tell me you know."

His overwhelming desire for her consumed him. He flipped them around and shoved her against the tree. He stood between her legs as his hands lifted her up, aligning those desperate parts of them so perfectly. His mouth slammed down on hers as he captured her wrists above his head in one hand, his other hand digging into the soft flesh of her exposed breast.

"My sweet Elena," he rasped, sucking at the thin flesh of her neck. "My savior. You're too good to be Katherine."

"Tell me," she demanded, arching herself into him. She cried out as he tweaked her nipple, panting as his hand soothed the sensitive bud.

"You're honest…and your heart is so, so big…_Christ_, Elena," he choked out, feeling her heels dig into his backside as he moved against her. "You're not selfish…and you actually…oh God, don't stop that…care about people…_fuck_…you don't play games…you're real…oh, Elena…you're _everything_ to me."

Damon released her arms from above his head, moaning as they immediately slunk around his neck and pulled his face to hers. Their tongues clashed in a heated battle to taste the other. His hands dropped to her breasts, filling his palms with her fullness. His thumbs brushed over her hard peaks, and he absorbed her small squeak with his mouth.

"Elena," he gasped, kissing her fiercely as his hands fondled her chest. "I want to make you feel good. Please let me make you feel good."

"Yes," she breathed out, not caring what Damon did as long as he did something to relieve that awful ache that throbbed from the place between her thighs. Her mouth opened soundlessly as she felt one of his hands descend down her dress and disappear underneath the fabric.

Damon's breaths came in staggered pants as he palmed Elena's mound on the outside of her panties. "Fuck Elena, you're so wet," he gasped, rubbing his thumb over the sensitive flesh. The tangy scent of her arousal drove him wild with desire. He ripped the tiny swatch of fabric between her legs with a simple flick of his wrist.

Elena clutched at Damon's strong arms as she felt the night breeze flow around her most private parts. She watched, open mouthed, as his fist appeared from underneath her dress, holding her soaked panties. He lifted the dripping cloth to his nose and inhaled deeply.

Black lines curled around his eyes. His fangs descended. Blue eyes turned black as night. Elena stared at Damon as his baser features emerged. She could see the venom drip from his fangs as he held her underwear to his face.

The sight turned her on like no other. The heated space between her legs felt drenched by the power of her love for this beautiful creature.

Damon shoved Elena's panties in his jeans pocket. He faced her as his fangs and black lines retracted themselves. The look in his eyes reflected months of pent up fantasies. Elena felt herself drip at their possibilities.

Keeping his eyes locked on Elena's, Damon's hand slunk underneath her dress once more. His fingers slowly traced around the outside of her feminine core. Their delicate contact electrified every nerve she had beneath her waist.

He ran a long finger up the middle of her heat. Elena's head fell back as she clenched his shoulders. He repeated the motion, dragging his finger along her sensitive folds in twice the time as before. A small whimper sounded from Elena's mouth, betraying the need she felt for his touch.

Damon gritted his teeth as he fought with his primal desires to plunge into Elena right then and there. He held her body to him tightly with his free hand as his other fingers skimmed over her nether lips. He took his time feeling the heaven of Elena's pussy, delighting in learning her differed reactions to his various touches. He felt her body tremble beneath his.

"Damon, please," she whispered. Unable to deny her, his thumb rubbed a slow circle over the sensitive bud at the top of her folds. She cried out. He muffled her sounds with kisses as he continued his circuit around her, flicking and teasing and prodding the delicate flesh of her womanhood. Her head fell to his shoulder as he slipped one finger inside her core.

The overwhelming sensation of being inside Elena ignited something primal in Damon. "Fuck Elena, you're so fucking tight," he growled, wriggling his finger inside her tight heat. "You feel so fucking good, baby. I could stay inside of you all night."

"More, Damon, please," Elena begged, her hands clawing at his back. Damon added a second finger to the one that was already inside of her, and he began to slip them in and out of her folds as his thumb rubbed her outside.

"You feel so perfect Elena, so hot and tight," he said, increasing the pace of his fingers as she thrust against him in her need to get closer. "I can't wait until this is my cock inside of you. I'm going to make you feel so good when I can finally be inside of you. You feel good now, don't you baby girl?"

"Yes!" Elena's sobs filled the air as Damon plunged his fingers inside of her over and over. The combination of his fingers filling her with the sensations of his thumb against her clit created tremors that threatened to undo her. She moaned loudly as she felt her walls clench around Damon's hand. Sensing that she was close, Damon sped up his motions.

"Come for me, Elena. You're so close," he coaxed, the fingers of his free hand digging into the flesh at her side. "Please let me see you come, Elena. Fall apart at my hand."

"Oh God, Damon." Spasms rocked Elena's body as she saw a rainbow of light flash before her eyes. Her mouth opened as her head snapped back. All she felt was pressure, pressure, pressure, and then, at the feel of Damon plunging his fingers into her one last time, she convulsed, her entire body quaking as that pressure exploded into an all-consuming shower of pleasure. She barely heard the soft curses that fell from Damon's lips as her body floated high, high above the tops of the moonlit trees, wracked by indescribable sensations of release. Minutes, hours, days seemed to pass by where she bathed in the blissful feelings that coursed through her veins. She finally drifted down to reality, slowly regaining awareness of her surroundings as she felt the strength of her lover's arms wrapped around her.

None of Damon's previous pleasures compared to the feeling of Elena's orgasm at his hand. As he held her against the tree and waited for her to come back down from her high, the satisfied expression on her face took his breath away. Moonlight danced across the planes of her face and accentuated the light that burned in her eyes. He whispered her name more reverently than the most religious prayers, words of gratitude on the tip of his tongue.

She saved him. She was his salvation.

He could never thank her enough for the way she liberated him from his insecurities.

"Elena," he breathed, delighting in the way her features responded to his voice. She slowly opened her eyes and gazed at Damon. A sleepy smile crawled across her face.

"Damon?"

"Yes, love."

"Let's go home."

His heart swelled at those three words. He placed one arm around her back and the other underneath her legs. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her up.

And guided by the paths of silver moonlight that curled between the fallen trees, he carried them both home, his footsteps never faltering until he reached the boarding house.

* * *

><p><strong>Fastest. Update. Ever! Seriously, how proud of you are me? Leave me some love, my darlings!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

"Please, Elena?"

"No."

"But I asked nicely!"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because."

"I don't understand why you're being so stubborn about this. You're really going to make me wait the rest of the month to see your birthmark?"

"Yes."

"Will you stop answering me with one word sentences?"

"Maybe."

Damon groaned as he ran his fingers through his sleep-tossed hair. He stalked over to Elena and wrapped his arms around her waist as she attempted to pour pancake batter into the skillet. She wore nothing but a pair of cotton boy briefs and one of his old t-shirts that fell down to her knees. The sight of her in his clothing combined with the way he could smell his scent on her skin did nothing to curb his morning desire for her.

He nuzzled the sensitive spot in the hollow of her neck and delighted when he felt goose bumps erupt across her body. "You're driving me crazy, you know." He pressed his hardness into her to emphasize his point.

"I know." Elena wiggled against Damon, coaxing a low moan from his lips. In an instant, her back slammed against the mahogany island as Damon crashed his mouth to hers. The spatula in her hand dropped to the floor as she fisted his hair in her desperate attempt to bring him closer. His hands grasped every inch of her they could find. His mouth devoured hers with a relentless series of nips and tugs that had her senses reeling. Any thoughts other than _Damon_ that threatened to occupy her mind were abruptly forced out as his tongue probed her lips, demanding access to the hotness of her mouth. She gasped as he ground himself into her, feeling every hard inch of how badly he wanted her through the thin fabric of his boxer briefs.

It would be so easy to slip underneath the silk and take him in her hands. Elena wanted to hear Damon moan and growl and swear at her touch. She wanted to feel his hot length twitch and pulse in her hands.

She wanted to feel him shatter beneath her.

An incessant beeping noise tore Elena from her lustful thoughts. She broke her mouth away from Damon, only to feel his lips latch onto her throat, and tried to ignore the curls of fire that had taken over her body in an attempt to find the source of the shrill sound. Her eyes darted over to the stove.

The pancakes had caught on fire. The smell of charred blueberries mixed with the thick smoke that had filled the air and drifted up to the smoke alarm. Elena squeaked with panic, but her squeak quickly turned to a purr as Damon's teeth grazed the underside of her jaw.

"Damon," she gasped, trying to remember why exactly she couldn't wrap her legs around his waist right now. "The pancakes."

"Forget the pancakes," he growled, smashing his lips on top of hers in a kiss that Elena felt in the tips of her toes. "I want you."

"Damon, please." What Elena begged for, she didn't know. Please keep touching me? Please keep your lips permanently attached to my body? Please rip all of our clothes off and have your wicked way with me on top of the kitchen island?

Saving her breakfast didn't seem nearly as crucial as the continuation of any of those things.

Damon's perfect, masculine scent was beginning to be overpowered by the smoke, however. That just couldn't continue to happen.

"The smoke," she choked out, her pants having everything to do with the illegal way Damon's fingers were caressing her chest through his shirt. "Make the smoke stop."

Elena barely had time to catch her breath as she watched Damon speed around the kitchen and douse the smoking pan with a cup of water. The cracks and sizzles that sounded from the pan echoed the burning desire in her veins. By the time her body registered the loss of Damon's flesh pressed against hers, he had returned, the expression in his eyes more feral than before.

"You look like you've been thoroughly ravished," he murmured. The seductive tone of his voice caused Elena's blood to perform all sorts of gymnastics within her.

"Not thoroughly enough," she whispered, knowing he'd be able to hear her. Sure enough, his crystalline blue eyes darkened to sapphire as a primal growl rumbled from his chest. He stepped to her, his movements slow and purposeful, until his body pressed hers into the island once again. He placed his arms on either side of her, effectively trapping her beneath him.

Elena couldn't help but raise her hands to touch Damon's bare chest. His body was magnificent. Every inch of his flesh was pure muscle. Her fingers begged to touch him. She trailed her hands down his chest and traced the outline of his stomach muscle. She felt him tighten beneath her touch as her hands drifted back up his torso and hovered over his chest. He hissed as her fingers drew agonizing circles around his nipples. She watched his eyes closed, in awe of the effects her touch had over this extraordinary creature.

Damon felt his grip on the island cause the countertop to crumble. Elena's touch would undo him; he knew this without a doubt. The sensation of her fingers against his skin felt like the highest form of pleasure imaginable.

It also felt like excruciating torture that was specifically designed for the inhabitants of the deepest circles of Hell. Every fiber of his being wanted to take her right here and right now in his kitchen. His mouth salivated at the thought of her naked body writhing underneath his, her breathless pants and cries echoing throughout the boarding house as he plunged into her again and again and again.

But alas, the Southern gentleman that he'd been bred as nagged at him, refusing to let him take that step until Elena verbally acknowledged that she wanted it. Oh, her body's responses to him _screamed_ that she wanted it, but until her head and her heart synchronized with each other, his balls would remain bluer than Papa Smurf's.

Damon stood up straight and removed his hands from the island countertop. He settled them on Elena's hips and tugged her to him. His arms instantly engulfed her as he held her against his chest. The flush of her cheeks felt so good against his chilled skin.

He rested his head comfortably against hers. "You fit perfectly in my arms. I always knew you would."

Elena smiled against his chest. She pressed a gentle kiss to his skin. "You make me feel so safe. I don't think anything bad can happen to me if I'm with you."

Damon chuckled. "You didn't always think that."

"Yeah, well you weren't always the gentleman to me that you are now."

"All pretend, baby, it's all pretend." Damon nibbled her earlobe. "Say the word and I'll show you just how ungentlemanly I can be."

Elena sighed, wishing her stubbornness to comply with her one-month rule would stop pestering her to stick this out. "Not yet, Damon."

"But soon."

"Soon."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and moved her to look at him. The lustful expression in his eyes had been replaced by one of tenderness. "I don't want you to rush yourself just because you're worried about upsetting me. This thing between us...it's not going anywhere. I know I don't show it, but I respect you for wanting to wait until you're one hundred percent convinced in us."

Elena's eyes widened at Damon's confession. "You do?"

"Yes." He trailed his finger along her satin cheek. "Besides, I know I'm a dick, but I'm not enough of a dick to pressure the woman of my dreams into making sweet...passionate...mind-blowing...life-changing love with me," he said, leaving sweet kisses on her lips in between each description. Elena giggled and playfully pushed him away.

"You're ridiculous."

"That's me, ridiculous old Damon." He glanced at the abandoned stove and winced at the soggy pancakes in the griddle. "I suppose you're going to compel with your lady powers to make you a new breakfast."

"Well, the old one _was_ ruined because of you."

He waggled his eyebrows. "You liked it."

"Certainly not."

"Oh?" Damon chased after Elena, who had tried to run out of the kitchen. She didn't make it farther than the other side of the island. He swept her up in his arms and planted her on top of the counter.

"Damon, put me down!"

"Certainly not," he teased, watching her mouth fall open at his use of her words from a minute ago. "Elena, do you mean to tell me that you don't like it when I do this?" His hands cupped her breasts through her shirt. Her breath hitched as his thumbs ghosted over her nipples, effectively bringing them to tiny little peaks.

"N-No."

"Hmm." Damon furrowed his brow in mock confusion as his mouth leaned towards her neck. "So I guess that means that you don't like it when I do this," he said, placing an openmouthed kiss on her skin before sucking on her flesh so hard he knew it would leave a mark. He felt Elena falter beneath him as his tongue soothed the lavished spot.

"N-Nope."

"Interesting." His eyes stared into hers as his hand crept beneath her shirt. She felt it drift up her leg until it rested at the junction of her thighs. She tried to rub her legs against each other to ease some of the throbbing need she felt in her core, but Damon's free hand gripped her thigh so her legs couldn't touch. She whimpered as he slid a long finger beneath the soaked cotton of her panties and ran it along her moist folds. His eyes were practically black as he touched her.

"Do you like it when I touch you here, Elena?" he growled, slipping his finger into her heat. "Do you like it when my finger's inside of your sweet pussy, touching all of the spots that make you shatter? Do you feel full with my fingers inside of you, Elena?"

Elena was helpless to deny Damon anymore. "Yes."

"My cock's going to make you feel so much better," he snarled, withdrawing his soaked finger all the way before plunging it back into her. "I'm going to make you feel so fucking good, Elena. I'm going to bury myself so fucking deep in you that you'll never forget the way I feel inside of you. I'm going to bring you pleasure that you didn't know it was even possible to feel."

"God, yes," Elena sobbed, clinging to Damon as he pumped his finger in and out of her. "I like everything you do to me, Damon. You know I do!"

With a wicked glint in his eyes, Damon pulled his fingers out of Elena. He made a show of licking her essence from his hand, darting the tip of his tongue over his fingers before completely submerging them in his mouth. His eyes rolled to the back of his head at her taste.

Elena watched Damon, feeling equal parts aroused and frustrated. He'd just finger-fucked her to the brink of oblivion, only to pull out right before she found release? She glared at Damon as he released his fingers from his mouth with a loud smack.

"You're a tease."

"Welcome to my world, sweetness," he nonchalantly replied, gesturing to the large tent in his briefs. Elena glanced down and bit her lip to keep from moaning. She forced herself to remember that she was ridiculously horny, and she glared at the shirtless man smirking in front of her.

"You're going to regret that," she growled, causing Damon's tent to grow some extra space. Frustrated and horny Elena was _hot_.

A huge grin spread across Damon's face as Elena pushed him away from her and hopped off the counter. He followed her as she stormed across the kitchen and towards the staircase that led upstairs. "Where you going, Elena?"

She stopped and whirled around, her eyes wild and glorious. "I, Damon Salvatore, am going to take a very, _very_ cold shower – no thanks to you, might I add – and when I come back downstairs, I expect to see the best breakfast I will ever have in my existence waiting for me. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, mam." Unable to resist, Damon, yanked Elena to him one more time and kissed her until her knees buckled. He laughed as Elena wrenched her mouth from his. The false fury dissolved from her eyes until a wide smile covered her face, matching the one on his.

God, she made him _so_ fucking happy.

Elena watched Damon strut his way back into the kitchen. Once she heard him whistling at the stove, she crept to her purse in the boarding house entrance hall. She dipped her hand into the satchel and rummaged around until she found what she was looking for. Her hand clutched around the object. She withdrew her hand from the bag and tiptoed across the wooden floors until she reached the staircase. Taking two steps at a time, she dashed up the staircase and sprinted into his bedroom. She quickly locked the door behind her and immediately collapsed on the bed. The adrenaline of the moment overcame her in the form of a giggle fit, and she looked down at the item in her hand with an impish smile.

Damon really was going to regret leaving her all hot and bothered.

After all, he was about to receive a very provocative cell phone picture.

* * *

><p>Damon was placing the final touches on his Food Network-worthy breakfast when he heard his cell phone chime. He shrugged off the sound and returned his attention to the masterpiece he'd laid out on the kitchen island. A whopping stack of buttermilk pancakes filled with blueberries sat next to the sweet cream-stuffed cinnamon raisin French toast. Chicken Florentine crepes shared a plate with spinach and mushroom omelettes. A bowl of sliced apples, bananas, pineapple, melon, and strawberry finished off his arrangement.<p>

If his lady wanted the best breakfast of her existence, then that's exactly what she would eat.

Damon dug out two plates and sets of utensils for him and Elena out of his cabinets when he heard his phone chime again. Who the hell would be messaging him on a Saturday? He set the table and poured Elena her hazelnut coffee. As he zipped around the kitchen to finalize everything, Elena entered the room. Her eyes widened when she saw the vast array of foods he prepared.

"You took my request seriously," she said, allowing him to push her chair into the table. "I'm impressed, Damon."

Damon winked at her. He knew Elena would like the breakfast he prepared for her, but it always made him feel all bubbly inside when she expressed her approval of something he did. "Was there ever any doubt?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Never, oh mighty grandmother's apprentice."

"Don't underestimate the power of my Nonna in the kitchen," he said, bringing the platters of heaping food to her side so she could choose what she wanted. "She taught me well."

Elena stabbed a piece of stuffed French toast and deposited it on her plate. She then slid a chicken Florentine crepe onto her plate before indicating that Damon should join her. She cut off a section of her crepe and placed it in her mouth. The combination of savory chicken with the spinach and Swiss cheese tasted delicious. She moaned and fervently dug into the remainder of the crepe. "That's the best thing I've ever had in my life."

"Obviously."

"Seriously Damon, this is fantastic," she proclaimed through a mouthful of chicken and Hollandaise sauce. "You should open a restaurant in Mystic Falls."

Damon burst out into hearty laughter. "You're suggesting that I, vampire badass extraordinaire, open up a restaurant?"

Elena giggled, quickly realizing the irony of the suggestion. "You could have separate menus for your customers. Chicken Florentine crepes on one, type AB on the other."

Damon's fork clanged onto the table as he stared at Elena with a mixture of shock and reverence. "Alright, who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend? The Elena I know does not make jokes about the variety of blood I'd serve on the menu of a vampire restaurant."

"I guess I'm just in a really good mood today."

Damon's heart threatened to burst out of his chest. "If my kickass breakfast has anything to do with your mood, I'm going to cook for you more often."

She smiled at him and reached out to squeeze his hand. "Today's going to be a great day, Damon. I know it."

"Jokes and optimism? Now I really don't know what to do."

"Oh, hush."

They ate their breakfasts in companionable silence, enjoying the first morning they could enjoy being together without the pressure of getting Elena to work. The tension of last night had gone and been replaced by a lightness that permeated their entire bubble.

Everything was good, and nothing hurt.

Elena looked up from her plate, her stomach satisfied and full. "Did I hear your phone go off earlier?"

Damon shrugged. He'd forgotten about the chimes of incoming messages as soon as Elena appeared back in his kitchen. "Yeah, I think so."

"Who was texting you on a Saturday morning?"

"Hell if I know."

Elena's forehead furrowed in thought. "It could be John Lawn. He's coming over today, right?"

Damon didn't miss the way her eyes brightened at the mention of John Lawn. He would have felt jealous if he wasn't completely sure that Elena was just as excited about his backyard flower garden as he was. "Yep, he should be here any second now."

"Can we help him?"

"Sure." He pushed his chair back and patted his leg. Elena stood up and walked over to his side. Impatient to feel her against him again, he pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. Her fresh, clean scent rolled off her in waves. He dipped his head to the crook of her neck and inhaled.

"We're not helping John Lawn all day," he muttered into her skin. "I don't think I can go an entire day without having any time with you to myself."

"I feel the same way." She raked her nails across his scalp, loving the way satisfied purrs rumbled from his chest. His arms tightened around her waist.

"You could do that for the rest of my existence and I'd be a happy vampire."

"_My_ happy vampire."

Damon lifted his head up to stare into Elena's eyes. A silly smile spread across his face as he nodded his acquiescence.

"_Your_ happy vampire. _My _happy Elena."

"Mmm." She leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. His mouth opened at her coaxing, and he felt her tongue languidly slip inside, caressing his in a sensual dance of utter devotion. He groaned at the way she still tasted of the cinnamon from his French toast. His fingers gripped the flesh at her sides, holding her to him.

The sounds of approaching construction vehicles brought Elena and Damon back to the real world. Damon sighed as Elena kissed his forehead before slipping off his lap. His legs immediately chilled without her heat on top of him. He almost whined at the injustice of a world where Elena wasn't permanently attached to his body.

"I'm going to go see what John Lawn needs our help with," she said, padding her way across the floor. "Go get dressed. I don't want any of those female landscapers to see this view."

Jealous Elena? Just as hot as frustrated and horny Elena.

"Yes, Elena." He gave her a mock salute, which she rolled her eyes at before spinning around and walking out of the kitchen. His eyes appreciatively stared at the curve of her ass, remembering how lush and full it felt in his hands this morning.

As if she knew his eyes had drifted to an inappropriate place, Elena whirled around, smiling knowingly at Damon. He snapped upright, his expression that of a boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He gave her a shrug and a sheepish look, and she laughed at him before turning around once again.

"Don't forget to check your cell phone in case it's important!" she called out. The sound of a door closing sounded seconds later.

"Always with the damn cell phone," Damon muttered underneath his breath, clearing the table of their dirty dishes and depositing them in the sink. He quickly placed the remaining food in storage containers and shoved them in his refrigerator before dashing upstairs. He pulled work clothes out of his drawers and promptly pulled them onto his body. He was eager to return to Elena's side. Several of the male landscapers were barely older than her, and he just _knew_ they were checking her out in his absence. He wasn't going to scare them off – he'd learned his lesson about being a jealous asshole yesterday – but his presence was going to make it perfectly obvious that Elena was off the market.

Damon flashed down the stairs and over to the electric outlet in the living room where he'd left his cell phone to charge. _Technology these days_, he mused before realizing he sounded like the curmudgeonly old men kids mocked these days.

Then again, he _was_ a curmudgeonly old man. He just didn't look like one. Thank goodness for that. Visions of the bad guy rapidly aging at the end of _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade_ briefly filled his mind before he shook them away. Nope, looking like a pruned skeleton was _not_ for him.

Damon pulled his cell phone out of the charger and looked at the bright screen. Sure enough, the screen read that he had two messages waiting for him. His thumb scrolled across the screen until he read the first one.

_Koi fish arriving later today. – John Lawn_

Damon chuckled as he deleted his landscaper's message. He'd have to tell Elena about that, assuming John Lawn hadn't told her the second she stepped outside. Damon was extremely curious to know what names Elena brainstormed for the mass of wriggling scales. He deleted the message and proceeded to view the next one.

His brow furrowed when he read Elena's name on the phone screen. Did he miss a message from her? He quickly looked at the date and time of the sent message and was confused when he saw that she sent it to him this morning. He didn't even know when she had time to text him; they'd barely been apart since they woke up wrapped around each other this morning. The only time she wasn't around was when he cooked her breakfast...when she was in the shower.

What the fuck did Elena need to text him from his bathroom?

Damon's thumb practically cracked the cell phone in his rapid attempt to open her message. An image filled his screen. His eyes narrowed as he looked at it, not quite sure of what he was seeing. A smudge of some sorts, no doubt. Heart-shaped, the size of a square centimeter. The blotch was a deep brown, practically the color of the darker strands of Elena's hair that the sun hadn't touched. It was surrounded by a background of creamy olive, the same color of Elena's skin.

Damon stared at the screen. He was dumbfounded. The wheels in his brain turned swiftly as he tried to deduce why Elena texted him a picture of a heart-shaped glob of dirt on her skin. He knew that women found _everything_ cute..._especially_ eighteen year old women...was this one of those moments where he was supposed to smile and coo at her and pretend like he understood her message when he really didn't?

He really didn't.

He scrutinized the screen, wracking his mind for any hints that could possibly clue him into the mysterious text. What was it Elena said to him right before she walked upstairs? You're going to regret this? Ah yes, that was right after he'd left her all hot and bothered on his kitchen countertop. Good times. _Really_ good times. He'd clearly have to instruct Elena in the art of revenge; sending him a picture of dirt was not going to make him fall to his knees with remorse. Now, if she'd sent him a picture of her rack or her ass, that'd be something to weep over.

Better yet, she could send him a picture of her birthmark.

Wait.

Damon's eyes scrunched as he looked at the image once more. Heart-shaped mark the color of dark chocolate on a background of Elena's tanned skin. Small size, something that could easily go unnoticed unless someone knew to search for it. He'd been inspecting Elena's flesh constantly for the past five days in his attempt to discover this hidden treasure of her body.

Did she actually show him what it looked like?

In a fucking text message?

Damon growled as he scrolled down on the screen to see if Elena included anything else with her message. Sure enough, her accompanying text mocked him underneath the provocative image.

_How does it feel to be unsatisfied, Damon?_

He snarled and flashed out of the boarding house. His sudden presence startled many of the landscapers, but Elena merely watched his approach with a twinkle in her eye and a coy smile on her face.

That goddamn devious little vixen. She knew _exactly_ what she was doing when she sent him that picture. That mark was more alluring than Aphrodite, more tempting than Jezebel. It was the embodiment of every temptation ever known to man, and Elena knew that.

Elena watched Damon stalk towards her, the grip on his phone one clench away from turning his phone to dust. Her heart raced. She had to drop the trowel she held to press her hands over her chest, afraid that her heart would beat itself out of her breast if she didn't stop it from doing so. He looked wild. Ravenous. Predatory. She felt as trapped as prey as he approached her, his eyes midnight blue and magnetic, his hair tousled and messy and perfect.

Oh, she was in trouble. She couldn't control herself when he looked at her that way, couldn't find it in her to hold herself back from letting him take everything. Her clothes ached to fall off her body underneath his hungry stare. The expression on his face was dark and dangerous, and she loved that all of this primal passion was directed solely at her.

Elena forced herself to ignore the liquid heat that pooled between her legs as Damon stopped inches from her face. She plastered an innocent look on her face. "What's wrong, Damon?"

His mouth fell open. "What the hell is this, Elena?"

She chose to play it cool, though the fire in her veins was anything but. "What's what, Damon?"

He shoved the cell phone in her face. "This! What. Is. This?"

She shrugged, peering up at him from beneath her long eyelashes. "What do you think it is?"

"I think," he gritted out, pocketing the phone so he wouldn't crush it, "that you texted me a picture of your birthmark, knowing it would drive me fucking insane."

She smirked at him, loving the way his inner animal radiated out of him when he lusted after her. "Well, how about that. Tell me, Damon, how does it feel to be left wanting more?"

"It feels fucking painful," he hissed, grabbing her hand and shoving it against the steel length in his pants. He groaned as she cupped him, not giving a rat's ass that they were doing this in the middle of his busy backyard.

"Yeah, it does," she agreed, giving him one last squeeze before she drew her hand away. "Maybe you should consider that the next time you leave me unsatisfied on top of your kitchen countertop."

"Kitchen countertop, bent over the couch, that wall, right here, I don't care, just come with me so we can end this damned torment."

"No."

Her response is so immediate and so definite that he takes a step back in surprise. "No? Elena, you have got to be fucking kidding me."

"I promised John Lawn that I'd help him plant the remainder of these flowers. Besides," she said, her eyes glittering amusedly, "doesn't absence make the heart grow fonder?"

"Yes, but my dick is really fucking pissed at you right now."

"My pussy was really upset with you earlier today."

Hearing Elena talk about her pussy sent tremors directly to Damon's cock. He tore at his hair in agony. "I have to see your birthmark, Elena. I have to see it in person."

Damon's obvious torment softened Elena's resolve. She closed the distance between them and ran her fingers soothingly through his hair. "Maybe when we're finished here for the day I can help you find discover where it's located."

"I won't believe it until it happens," Damon grumbled, refusing to allow himself the comfort of Elena's touch. He finally relented and melted into Elena's hand when it tenderly cupped his cheek.

"Tonight. Pack a moonlit picnic for us for your front lawn."

"A picnic, Elena? Really?"

"Trust me?"

"Despite my better judgment."

She chuckled. "Then pack us a picnic. You won't regret it."

Damon huffed as he walked away from Elena. She heard him mumbling obscenities under his breath as he stomped back to the boarding house, something about "can't believe I'm waiting nine fucking hours to learn where this damn thing is" and being "pussy-whipped." She would have laughed about his discomfort if she didn't ache equally from her desire for him. She needed release as badly as he did, but she knew that if she showed Damon her birthmark, their activities wouldn't stop at that. Elena wasn't sure if she was ready for that just yet.

But if what she had envisioned for tonight panned out, Damon would get his release tonight and then some. By the time she was finished with him, he would know exactly where her birthmark was located.

She would show it to him on his body.

* * *

><p>Damon scowled as he waited for Elena to step out of the shower. Wait, wait, and wait. All he'd done today was wait. Today had been one lengthy, excruciating ball of waiting, and he was ready for the waiting to end.<p>

He'd waited and watched from the far side of the backyard as Elena helped John Lawn, planting the remaining begonias and tulips, setting the sprinkler to rain over the fresh plants, and spending ten minutes to perfectly position a weatherproof loveseat next to her cherry blossom apology tree. He waited and cracked a small smile when the koi fish arrived, secretly loving the way Elena's eyes lit up when she saw the wriggling things for the first time. (She'd named them after Snow White's seven dwarves. Fucking adorable.) He waited for her to individually thank every one of the landscapers who worked on this project, even that Frank guy who was dead-set on ruining his rosebushes. Waiting, waiting, waiting, nothing but waiting for the promised moment when he'd finally learn the location of Elena's secret and unique birthmark...while on a picnic in his front yard. The simplicity of the plan amused him, but that amusement quickly dissolved into impatient anticipation when he heard Elena begin to sing in the shower. Did she plan to perform a concert in there? Was she taking her good old time, knowing he chomped at the bit as he waited downstairs?

He raced upstairs and banged on his bedroom door. "Did you grow an extra leg when I wasn't looking? What the hell is taking you so long?"

The muffled sound of Elena's reply didn't obstruct the sarcasm that dripped from her voice. "Go drink something Damon, I'll be out in a minute."

"You said that five minutes ago!"

"Patience is a virtue, Damon."

He snarled at the closed door. "Not when you've tempted me all afternoon, Elena!"

"You know, the longer you stand there barking at me, the longer I'm going to be in here."

Well, he couldn't argue with that logic.

Damon trudged back down his stairs and made a direct line towards his liquor cabinet. He pulled out a bottle of his best bourbon, poured himself a shot of it, and threw it back. He repeated the motion three more times, wincing as the sting of the alcohol eased its way down his throat.

The bourbon worked fast, pushing a sliver of patience through his body. Recommitted to the task of waiting, he capped the glass bottle and slid it back into its rightful place. He slumped down on his sofa in front of the fireplace and waited. His thoughts jumped around, never staying on one subject for long, but they always returned to the same three words.

Elena.

Birthmark.

Tonight.

He heard her soft footsteps creep down the stairs. He sat up straight, tightening his body in anticipation of seeing her again. It had only been ten minutes since she stepped into the shower, but her promises this morning made ten minutes seem like an eternity.

Elena came into his view. His breath hitched. She was dressed simply, wearing nothing but a cotton sundress with flowers the colors of sunset, but it looked perfect on her. She didn't have to wear fancy clothing to exude the light and goodness that defined her. No, she looked perfectly exquisite in a simple cotton dress and bare feet.

"You're beautiful," he murmured, unable to keep the compliment from escaping her lips. She flushed, turning her cheeks a lovely rose color.

"So are you."

Damon smiled. He grabbed the filled picnic basket and blanket off the floor before he walked to Elena and extended his arm to her.

"Shall we?"

He escorted her outside. Pale moonlight illuminated the front yard, casting slivers of light and shadow through the trees that surrounded the boarding house. Damon chanced a glance over to Elena, who had stopped walking. Reverence dripped from his stare as he watched her. The moonlight danced across her features, creating shimmering patterns across her satin skin. She inhaled deeply.

"Tonight's perfect," she breathed, lifting her arms to embrace the night. Damon watched her extend her arms, almost as if she offered herself to the evening's magic. She looked radiant, as if she was meant to dwell in these hours of moonlight and stardust.

"Yes, it is."

He spread out the blanket in the middle of the green grass and gestured for Elena to sit on it. As she nestled herself comfortably onto the fabric, he dug through the wicker basket and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of champagne.

The sound of the popping cork drew Elena's gaze from the faint stars back to Damon. She took the bubbling glass from his hand, noticing the spark that shot through her blood when his fingers grazed hers. They intertwined their free hands.

Damon raised his glass. "To love."

"To love."

They clinked and drank. The toast was as simple as their feelings for each other. It always came back to love.

* * *

><p>When they finished eating their meal, Elena waited for Damon while he ran the picnic basket back to the kitchen. As soon as he returned to her, he laid down on the blanket. She snuggled into his open arms. His hands drew soothing circles down her back. Every brush of his fingertips against her bare skin stoked the fires that burned through her senses. Elena was trying her hardest to not attack Damon the minute he came back from the boarding house, but each new touch and caress pushed her closer to that breaking point.<p>

Damon wasn't consciously trying to rev Elena up. After a day of forced separation, he just wanted to hold her, feel her in his arms. He couldn't resist stroking her back. He couldn't resist running his fingers through her hair, couldn't resist kneading her scalp at the spot behind her ear that made her purr as contentedly as a kitten. For once, sexual thoughts didn't command his actions.

He just wanted to make her feel as cherished as she made him feel.

Elena couldn't take it anymore. Her urges were racing into overdrive. She summoned all of her strength to fist Damon's shirt and yank his mouth down to hers.

All of Damon's innocent intentions shot straight to the sky as he felt Elena's body wriggle beneath his. Her lips and tongue sought a response from him. Her flesh smoldered, her heat crawling into his body and demanding compliance from every ounce of his being. She owned him. She owned him completely, and he had never felt more at ease with himself because of it. Her lips continued to crash against his, melting his body into a supple pile of flesh and bone, and all Damon could think to do was hold on tightly and let his woman lead him on this ride of love and need.

Elena flipped the two of them over so she straddled Damon's waist. Refusing to remove her mouth from his delicious one just yet, she deepened her kiss as she ground herself into him, the force of her lips matching the one of her legs. Damon moaned into her mouth, matching her thrusts with ones of his own as his kisses grew more fevered and desperate. The bottled pressure between her legs rose and rose as she rocked frantically against him, his grunts and gasps sounding like the sweetest music in the night air.

She abruptly broke away from his mouth to lick and nip a hot trail down his jaw. He trembled beneath her touch, his chest heaving with breathlessness. He gasped Elena's name and gripped her flesh as she bit his earlobe. She responded by biting along his collarbone, sharp little pinpricks of light and fire that made the light behind his eyes turn to rich gold.

"Christ, Elena," he rasped, his senses humming with everything that was her. "Let me see you. Let me touch you."

Elena wanted to submit to Damon's plea so badly, but she was determined to stick to her original plan. She captured his lips with hers, letting her tongue lazily probe around the caverns of his mouth, before she pulled away. Her mouth hovered a breath above his.

"Do you still want to learn where my birthmark is?"

Damon had never wanted anything more in his existence. "Yes, please." He strained his neck to kiss the lips that lingered just out of his reach, but Elena drew her head back.

"And you'll let me do this my way?"

He'd let her do anything she wanted to him if she continued to touch him like that. "Of course. Anything."

Elena finally gave in to Damon's exertions and gave him a fierce kiss. She abruptly pulled back and slid back onto the blanket, much to Damon's chagrin.

"If you really mean that—"

"— I do."

"Then you need to take off all of your clothes."

* * *

><p><strong>Two more chapters to go! Thank you so much for all of your reviews and other notifications - it brightens my day whenever I see the emails from FanFiction in my inbox! Please continue to leave me some review love!<strong>

**Also, what are your _least_ favorite days? I'm in the process of writing a new, drabble-ish story. Elena's a peasant. Stefan's a prince and a knight. Damon? He's just one gorgeous mystery. It's going to be a while before I start publishing it, but I want to know the days of the week you hate waking up to the most so I can post the chapters then!**


	9. Chapter 9

Damon's lustful thoughts came to a screeching halt for a brief moment as he tried to make sense of Elena's unusual command. She wanted _him_ to take off _his_ clothes? He didn't have any idea how _his_ getting naked would reveal _Elena's _birthmark, but if Damon Salvatore had learned one lesson from his many years of sexual activity, it was that he should _never_ argue with a beautiful woman straddling him in the beginning of sexy times.

If the woman in question just happened to be the love of his existence – a.k.a., Elena – he _definitely_ shouldn't question her demands.

Besides, Damon had never been completely naked in front of Elena before. He'd fantasized about the moment thousands of different times, but he always figured that it would be better to wait and receive her permission to do so instead of randomly appear in her room wearing nothing but his birthday suit. He certainly had no objections placing his nude body on display for her…especially if his bareness resulted in her joining him in a similar state of undress.

He licked his lips at the thought. Nothing in the world could be more mouth-watering than the sight and taste of a naked Elena. Damon was willing to bet his existence on that fact.

He stared hungrily at Elena as she sat above him, waiting for his response. His eyes bored into hers, his blue meeting her brown in a gaze so intensely intimate, her already fluttering pulse began to speed faster at the promises his look conveyed. His hand found hers and tugged her body back on top of his, needing to feel her heat cover him.

"I want _you_ to undress me," he murmured, feeling the blood spark and flare in his veins as he whispered the words. The implications of his desires weren't lost on him. He was telling Elena to strip him bare, to remove all pretenses between them, to peel his layers back one at a time and reveal inch after inch of everything that he had and would ever be. He wanted to completely expose himself beneath her eyes, to lay all of him before her and pray that she accepted the flawed, imperfect mess of a vampire that he was.

Elena's breath left her body at Damon's request. Yes, of course she would undress him. They'd done a lot of physical, private stuff with each other over the past couple of days, but this deed would be the most intimate of them all. There was something so personal about the act of removing her vampire's clothes. She adored everything about Damon, but his willingness to be stripped and vulnerable in front of her, to let her see him without any clothing or facades, showed the true trust that they shared between them.

"Damon," she said softly, reveling in the way his stare intensified whenever she spoke his name. Her blood sizzled just thinking about him. Elena never knew that the mere thought of a person could have such an effect on her inner workings. She crawled back over his body and hovered her lips a hair's breadth above his. "My Damon."

"Your Damon." His response came automatically, innately. Every fiber of his being was hers. She possessed him wholly, and he didn't want his existence to be any other way. "My Elena." He looked into her coffee eyes and saw the depth of his belonging and his love reflected in her returned gaze. His undead heart swelled at this recognition. Unable to keep apart from her any longer, he craned his neck to close the distance between their mouths.

Elena groaned into Damon as his lips moved against hers. They always felt pillow soft, and they gave her such tenderness that she couldn't help but lose herself in their touch. Her hands cupped the sides of his face and held him to her with a need that slowly burned her to her core. She had to be closer, needed to feel all of him against her. Her hips circled against his hard length as her mouth melded to his, and when he opened himself with a feral moan, she slipped her tongue inside, leisurely exploring every hot inch of his mint and spice taste.

Damon's fingers gripped the swell of Elena's hips as her tongue continued to dance with his. Her honeyed flower scent permeated the air around him. He felt more than happy to drown in it, to drown in Elena. She was his savior, his liberation, the light and warmth in his world. He craved her the way he craved the heat of sunlight on his skin, and he sighed into her as their mouths sampled each other, returning the sweet gentleness of her kiss with matching affection.

The beast within Damon, however, demanded that he flip them over, rip Elena's sundress from her flushed skin, and plunge his fangs and cock into her and take what he wanted, but he refused to let his inner animal take control in this moment. It had been so long since he'd been with someone who wanted to give him pleasure and not just take it from him. Damon was more than willing to let Elena continue her slow journey around his body. No part of him was off limits to his soulmate. She had access to every area that she desired to see and touch.

Elena's need to feel Damon's bare skin beneath her fingers was growing too insistent to ignore, but she wanted to prolong the moment and draw out his pleasure. Careful to continue her seduction at a relaxed pace, her hands skimmed down the sides of his face, over his collar, and stopped at the buttons on his shirt. She stole away from his mouth and kissed a hot trail over to his jaw. She heard his breaths grow heavy as the top of her tongue darted out to touch the small hollow underneath his ear, and his hold on her hips tightened as she followed her licks with a series of small, feathery nips and kisses down the line of his chin. By the time her lips closed on the bob of his throat and sucked at the thin flesh above it, Damon was a quivering mess of pent-up need beneath her hands.

"Christ, Elena," he gasped, feeling her blunt teeth gently scrape the skin of his throat. Darts of fire streaked through his blood, fanning every single flame of desire that threatened to consume him. Elena's mouth continued to tease the hollow of his throat as her fingers slipped his top button through the shirt hole.

She suddenly lifted her lips from his skin. Damon almost wept with frustration at the unexpected loss of Elena's touch, but he quickly exhaled a jagged sigh of relief when she replaced her mouth on the newly uncovered patch of skin. Her fingers undid the rest of his buttons one at a time, dusting light touches on the bare flesh beneath her hands, driving him crazy with his yearning to touch her. Her lips followed her fingers down his chest, her kisses growing longer and hotter as her hands and mouth approached his waistband.

Elena's fingers trembled as she undid the last button. She placed a kiss on Damon's skin where the silk fabric had covered just moments before. She felt on fire, completely consumed by golden balls of flame and longing for him. She never knew that undressing someone could be so erotic. Her inner vixen urged her to continue her path down his body, to undo the button of his pants and kiss a trail down to the hardness of his arousal, but she firmly restrained herself from just ripping his clothes off the way she craved to do. She had a gorgeous, ethereal vampire completely at her disposal, and she was going to take advantage of his surrender.

When Elena rocked back on her heels to get a better look at Damon's bare torso, she couldn't prevent a sigh from escaping her lips at the sight of him. Damon's body epitomized perfection. The moonlight reflected off his pale skin and gave him a silvery glow. His light flesh contrasted more fully with his dark features and made him look so striking in the silhouette of the night. She wet her lips at the view of him lying beneath her, stretched out and fully exposed to her ravenous gaze. Her heart thumped furiously in her chest, reminding her with every pulse and beat that she'd never wanted anyone as much as she wanted Damon.

Elena grabbed the lapels of Damon's shirt and pulled him up to a seated position, seating herself comfortably in his lap. Her eyes locked on his as she slipped the silk shirt slowly over his shoulders and down his arms. Her fingers grazed his skin throughout the entire movement, leaving a burning trail in their wake. When the shirt pooled at the bottom of his arms, she leaned into him, brushing her chest against his, and tossed the discarded top to the side of the blanket.

Her lustful stare raked up and down Damon's body. Her eyes roamed greedily over his bare flesh, imprinting every inch of his appearance to her memory. Her hands dusted over him, craving to feel the man who incited such powerful feelings from her. She relished his torso, the flatness of his chest, the definition of his stomach muscles. She marveled at his shoulders, at their sturdiness and strength, at the way they'd always be there if she needed them to lean on. She cherished his arms, the way they flexed with his every motion, the way they always made her feel safe whenever she found herself within them. Her hands drifted down his back and pressed into the toned flesh she found, knowing that she would protect his back for as long as she possibly could.

Damon restrained a whimper as Elena ran her hands across his skin. He felt so lost in her touch. The woman that he loved looked at his body and caressed it as if it were more valuable than anything in her world. He'd never felt more invincible than he did in this moment, embracing the glow of energy that surged through his blood every time Elena touched him in any way.

As her fingers slid up and down and around his flesh, Damon wrapped his arms around Elena's back and held her firmly to him. He tipped his head forward and licked a wet path along the sharp outline of her collarbone. He felt her tense beneath his tongue, and he nuzzled the sensitive spot underneath her neck before he repeated the action. As he switched his attentions to her other side, her touches grew more deliberate, more urgent, and he dropped frequent kisses on either side of her neck. He wanted her to feel just as powerful in his presence as he felt in hers. She gave him strength beyond that of his supernatural abilities. When a sated sigh slipped from her lips, he couldn't help but rejoin their mouths once more.

"I'm so crazy about you," he whispered against her skin after peppering her lips with long, sensual kisses. The tremors in his voice made her blood buzz, and she shuddered as she tried to increase the depth of their kisses. Damon let himself melt into Elena, let her taste and her sounds and the feel of her in his arms completely devour him, and he broke away from her mouth to place open, wet kisses on her neck again. "The things you make me feel…every moment of my existence was a waste before you came along."

The sincerity of Damon's words made Elena's heart leap out of her chest. She wanted to argue with his logic, knowing that the experiences he had before they met had shaped him into the incredible vampire and man that he was today. She felt so glad that the universe gave her this passionate, wonderful being. The thought that he wanted to be with her after over a hundred years of walking this earth staggered her, and she wanted to spend the rest of the night showing him how much he meant to her.

Elena lowered Damon back to the blanket, pressing her mouth on his lips, his face, his ears. God, the things her tongue could do to his ears. Who knew? Damon fisted the cotton blanket as she tugged on his lobe with her teeth. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he exhaled a stammered moan as she licked down his jaw and sucked at his neck. She trailed kisses over his chest, covering his nipples with her hot mouth, grazing the tips with her teeth and gently biting down on the sensitive peaks. He snarled, a loud masculine noise that rattled Elena all the way to her heated core. Urgency overcame her and she quickened her actions, outlining each individual stomach muscle with her tongue and nipping at the line of skin that lay just above his waistband. Each scrape of her teeth shot a bullet of pressure straight to his dick, effectively turning Damon into a vampiric mess of volcanic need who was seconds away from erupting.

"Pants. Now," he grit between clenched teeth, desperately trying to restrain himself from pouncing on Elena. She moved down his body and settled between his legs, slowly scraping her fingers down his chest. She lowered her head to his covered length, savoring the way he gasped and squirmed beneath her touch. She exhaled a gust of hot air over his hardness, feeling the heat pool between her legs when she saw it twitch underneath the fabric. Her hands hovered over his pants button, and she kept them there as she ran her tongue down the length of his clothed cock.

Damon bucked wildly into Elena's mouth. His dick was about to drill a hole through his pants. Feeling Elena's heat on his cock was such sweet torture, and he ached to feel her warmth without anything separating them. He almost wept with relief when he felt her fingers slip the button through the loop and slowly slide his zipper down. Every click of the closure shot an overload of sensation to his dick and provoked his urgency to be fully naked. He was going to destroy these pants if Elena took any longer to remove them from his legs. He would rip them to shreds.

When the zipper finally arrived at the bottom of its track, Elena hooked her thumbs into Damon's pants and the briefs he wore underneath them. He lifted his hips for her and watched as she slowly slid the fabric down his legs. His thick, hard member finally sprang free. Elena's breath caught in her throat as she watched the pulsing length bob proudly in the moonlight, almost as if it was desperate to be put on display. She yearned to take him in her mouth, to watch Damon's eyes roll back in his head as she sucked and teased his maleness, giving him pleasure that she'd never given him before. She needed to see and feel him completely naked beneath her, and she scurried down to his feet, gently pulled his briefs and pants off his legs, and tossed them to the side.

Nothing lay between them now. Even though the night air was cool, the way Elena stared at Damon's naked body set his flesh on fire. He'd never seen someone look at him with such adoration. The stark need in her eyes overwhelmed him with passion. Every last nerve in his body stood on edge as she looked at him. He wanted to tell her how her stare ignited _everything_ inside of him but his tongue suddenly felt heavy and clumsy, and all he could do was lay beneath her and fall prey to her ravenous eyes.

Elena hoped she wasn't making Damon uncomfortable with her gaze, but she couldn't help but soak in his nakedness. He looked so _beautiful_ in the light of the evening, his bare body laid before her like a flesh offering to a moon goddess. Everything about him looked perfect: the triangle of muscle around his hips, his strong legs, the knobs in his knees, his calves, even the sculpt of his feet swelled her heart with awe. And his cock...oh God, his cock deserved to have monuments erected to honor it. Her hand reached out to touch it, but her eyes fell on the small patch of skin on his inner thigh.

Oh, yes. This night started with the purpose of showing Damon the location of her notorious birthmark. Elena still had every intention of revealing that sight to him, but she wanted to show him on _his_ body first. She placed a tender kiss on the arch of his right foot, looking up to see Damon's eyes grow bluer and wider as she followed that kiss with another one on the bone of his ankle. She kissed him over and over again, up his lower leg, around his knee, up the inside of his thigh until she was dangerously close to his cock and he was a mess of excited nerves and overwrought anticipation. Her eyes never abandoned his as she kissed around his hardness, brushing his length with her long hair, making him effectively shake with need. Damon moaned loudly at the teasing contact. As her tongue poked out to trace the line of his hip, he found himself unable to remain quiet any longer.

"Elena," he gasped, his fist clenched and his eyes wide, "do you have _any_ idea what you're doing to me?

The small smirk that spread across her lips gave Damon all the clarification that he searched for. Oh yes, his love was fully aware of the fact that she was a seductress in the most tempting of forms. His eyes threatened to pop from his head as she lowered her face down to his throbbing cock and briefly swiped its leaking tip with her tongue. Damon moaned and unsteadily thrust towards her, hissing with frustration when she kept herself out of the range of his hips.

"Maybe," she coyly replied to his earlier question, delighting in the way his jaw clenched at her answer. She thoroughly enjoyed having this power over him, having the ability to make him snarl and writhe and bring him pleasure fully under her command. She repeated her trail of kisses on his other leg, stopping every inch to leave a kiss, flick, or nip along his inner thigh, knee, and foot. When she reached the bottom of Damon's leg, she felt him tremble beneath her touch, and her heart pounded at the sight of his eyes watching and revering her every move.

"You're seducing me," he murmured. Damon never expected his Elena, sweet, innocent Elena, to have such a controlling inner vixen. The knowledge that Elena liked to give him pleasure was insanely hot. He'd never had any doubt that they would be sensational together in every possible way, but the things she was doing to him underneath the moonlight blew his mind away. Her fingers settled on his inner thigh, unbearably close to his cock, and began to trace around a particular patch of flesh.

"That's an erogenous zone, you know," he stammered, amazed that Elena knew exactly where to touch to make him feel good. She seemed to know his body better than he knew it, and he desperately wanted to have the same familiarity with her figure. He wanted to know where to touch to make her sigh and gasp. He _needed_ to know where to go to make her scream with pleasure. Damon had every intention of doing all of these things and more to Elena, but he suddenly felt hot air waft over his inner thigh, and then she traced that spot with her tongue instead of her fingers, and his mind couldn't help but dive into a haze of pleasure.

"Shit," he croaked. Elena's tongue and teeth were doing ridiculously satiating things to his inner thigh, scraping and teasing and nipping at the already sensitive skin. She was so close to his cock; it bounced against her cheek as her face pressed into his leg, stoking a delicious pressure within his core that was so close to erupting.

Elena loved burying herself in the middle of Damon's legs. She could spend all day here driving him to the brink of delirium with her actions. The fact that touching the location of her birthmark on _his_ leg brought him as much pleasure as it did her made her feel even more connected to him than she already did. She nipped the spot once, twice, a third time, and after hearing him whimper with desire, she lifted her head and looked straight into his fathomless eyes.

"Here," she whispered, pressing the spot with her thumb. She'd had enough of their games. She felt tired of holding herself back from him. She wanted Damon to know every inch of her, and letting him be privy to a special mark that very few people knew about, let alone saw, was the best way she could think of to convey that desire.

Damon heard Elena through a sensation-muddled mind. His libido really, _really_ wanted her to return to his leg...and then to his dick...but something about the soft sincerity of her voice registered on a deeper level within him. Here what? What was so special about this particular patch of skin? How did she know that it would affect him so ardently? Would she react similarly if he gave his attentions to the same spot on her leg?

Wait...

Damon looked at Elena with newly perceptive eyes. He stared at her, then down to the spot on his inner thigh that her fingers rested against, then back at her open, hopeful face. Could that be where _the_ mark was located on her? No, not in his wildest dreams. That spot was so sensitive, so erotic. He'd had countless fantasies of what he would do when he discovered the mark's location, but to be located on her inner thigh, so close to her sweet core?

Dear God, his mind could explode just thinking of the carnal possibilities. He could do _so_ much to her if her birthmark was located _there_.

"Here?" he whispered, taking Elena's hand and moving it to the place on his leg where her mouth had been just moments before. The anticipation of her answer bubbled in his veins. He felt like it had been six months instead of six days since he learned of Elena's unique mark. To finally confirm its location would be existence-changing. Elena's trusting him with this information would signify that she fully trusted him. Nothing could be more cherished than Elena's faith in him. If she let him see her birthmark, he would do everything in his power to keep her from regretting that decision.

"Here," she confirmed, delighting in the way his entire face illuminated at a single word from her lips.

"Your birthmark?" Damon sat up and looked down at the spot on his skin, glanced back at her, then looked back down at his leg once more. Elena nodded at him. Her heart pounded so fiercely against her, she thought it would beat itself right out of her chest. She took a deep breath and drew her sundress over her head. She watched Damon watch her, growing braver as his eyes roamed hungrily over every inch of her stomach, the curve of her hips, the swell of her bare breasts. Her thumbs slipped into the waistband of her panties and slowly slid them down her legs, leaving her as naked and bare and exposed as he. She stood proudly before her lover, her tanned skin glowing in the moonlight, placing every inch of her trembling body on display for him to behold.

Elena shivered as Damon rocked to his knees before her. His eyes had darkened to a sapphire blue at the sight of her naked figure, and she knew that he was as mesmerized by her body as she was by his. He reached his hands up and gently placed them on her breasts, drifting his fingers over her peaks before sliding them down her stomach at an agonizingly slow pace. He touched her as if she were made of glass, fragile and breakable, the most precious thing to behold. She felt so beloved under his passionate gaze and gentle hands.

The heat burned a slow, scorching fire between Elena's legs as Damon's hands drifted over her hips and down her thighs. He parted her legs with gentle force, staring eagerly, reverentially at her dripping core before turning his attentions to her inner thigh. His forefinger slid up to her birthmark, that small, heart shaped blotch that had completely turned their worlds upside down. His eyes narrowed with desire. He exhaled a long breath into her wetness, the tingles of air causing shivers to spiral through her body. She held her breath as his eyes and hands focused on her birthmark.

"Perfect," he murmured, tracing the slightly elevated mark with a long, pale finger. He felt Elena shudder beneath him as he dipped his head to the mark and placed an awed kiss on its sensitive skin. He followed the gesture with a peppering of light, sweet kisses that made Elena' knees tremble with desire.

"Damon," she moaned, feeling herself about to buckle with sensation. He abruptly pulled her into his arms and laid her back down on the blanket, capturing her mouth in a heated kiss that flamed through her entire body. He couldn't kiss enough of her at once. His lips craved her taste, her sweet honey and flower taste, and in their quest to be everywhere they planted a fierce trail of kisses down the side of her neck, across her stomach, down her legs. He settled between Elena's thighs and dropped kiss after kiss on her birthmark, punctuating each brush of his lips with whispered endearments against her skin. She pressed his head to her leg, desperate to combust through his touch.

"Beautiful." Damon's tongue flicked against her leg.

"Gorgeous." He traced the outline of the mark.

"You're _everything _to me." Damon sucked on Elena's sensitive skin, adding various nips and scrapes of his teeth into the mix. She writhed beneath his mouth, fisting her hands in his hair as his lips and tongue did unspeakably wonderful things to her body. God, she felt like she could fly. Even Damon's smallest touch caused avalanches of pleasure to cascade throughout her system, and just when she though that she would explode from the feel of Damon's mouth on her, he stopped and flew back up her body, taking her lips in another heated kiss. His tongue forced its way into her mouth, causing her to cry out from the surprise and pleasure of his domination. The lovers groaned simultaneously as they swirled around each other. Elena's hands dug into Damon's back to pull him closer as she rocked her hips against his, craving his release as much as she begged hers to come. He suddenly lifted his head from hers, his blue eyes hot and sweltering and burning her with their intensity.

"Tell me what you want," he hissed, punctuating his command with a searing nip to the earlobe that sent Elena's senses reeling. Damon knew that they needed to establish any physical boundaries between them right now before he ran the risk of taking things farther than Elena wanted. He was so desperate to lose control with her, to give her satisfaction that far surpassed that of her wildest dreams, and having her naked and squirming beneath him like this did nothing to curb his desire for her. He repeated his question and clenched his lips around her nipple, rolling his tongue around the sweet bud, demanding her response.

Elena couldn't think straight when Damon had his mouth on her breast. She wanted so many things. She wanted Damon to keep his lips on her. She wanted to feel his fingers on her, inside of her. She _really_ wanted to touch him everywhere: his face, his body, and especially his cock. She felt it press insistently against her stomach as they moved against each other, and her fingers yearned to reach down and grab him.

Did she want to have sex with him tonight?

Yes, the scene was set for what would surely be a picturesque, unforgettable first time making love underneath the moon and stars. The man who revered her beyond all belief, a man she was devastatingly in love with, had positioned himself on top of her and was doing exquisitely blissful things to her body. It would be so easy for her to say yes, to surrender herself fully to Damon's advances, to let him push inside of her and fill her to completion. Everything about this moment was perfect for this first time except for one minor, necessary stipulation.

Elena wanted to make love with Damon for the first time during the day.

She knew it was a silly proviso, but when Damon filled her for the first time, she wanted it to be in broad daylight. Now that all of the figurative shadows had been purged from their relationship, she didn't want there to be any literal ones present when they first made love.

"No sex tonight," she finally admitted, nervously looking at his face from underneath her eyelashes. Her heart clenched when she saw him visibly deflate. She knew that Damon was an even greater victim of her sex embargo than she was, and she wanted to find a way to ease his suffering while remaining true to herself.

"But I want to do everything else," she boldly said, feeling her cheeks flush as she vocalized her desires. In a move that surprised them both, Elena flipped them over and slunk down Damon's body until her mouth hovered over his member.

"I want _this_," she growled, and watching his eyes enlarge with astonished lust, she sank her mouth down on him.

The sight of Elena's lips wrapped around his cock was more than Damon could handle. Any disappointment he initially felt at not having sex tonight instantly evaporated into the night air. Her mouth felt so tight, so wet, so warm. Her doe eyes remained locked on his as she swallowed all of him, hollowing her cheeks together as he felt his tip hit the back of her throat. He swore loudly and carefully thrust himself into her, trying his damndest not to impale her with his dick. Her mouth slid back up him, and just as he was about to slip out of her, she ran her tongue against the line of his head before lowering her mouth back down.

"Fuck, Elena," he grit between gnashed teeth. Holy fuck, she felt amazing. The sight of her lips wrapped around his cock and the way it disappeared into her mouth looked so fucking erotic. She moved up and down his length, gently scraping her teeth along the way that made him hiss and moan, and she traced and scratched the outline of her birthmark on his leg. Damon felt so besieged by the pleasure she brought him. Firebursts of sunset colored light combusted in his blood, pulling him closer and closer to sweet release.

"Elena, I'm close," he panted, erratically pushing his hips into her mouth. She purred her approval around his cock, continuing to bob her mouth up and down every last hard inch of his length. The vibrations of her hums drove Damon straight to the edge, and as he tried to hold on for just a little bit longer, Elena simply dusted her finger over his inner thigh.

He fell. Hard.

Damon howled his orgasm into the night air as his cock exploded down Elena's throat. His guttural cries bounced between the treetops as he released several thick, long streams of release into her mouth. He felt Elena's throat muscles constrict around him as she swallowed every drop of his essence. His loud pants dwindled into sated sighs. He slipped out of Elena's mouth and lay back on the blanket, melting fully into the soft fabric, completely spent at the talented, perfect hands and mouth of his love.

Elena crawled back up over Damon's body. His eyes were closed and his face stretched into a silly smile. He appeared to be utterly spent, and she gave herself an inner high-five for satiating him so completely. She leaned down and left a gentle kiss on his lips, appreciating the softness of him under her mouth.

Damon's arms shot up and wrapped themselves around Elena. He pulled her flat against him, relishing the way every part of them aligned in perfect unison. He guided her head back to his and pressed his lips against hers, wanting nothing more than to be fully absorbed by her essence. His tongue poked lazily into her mouth, and as it roamed around her, he became overwhelmed by the salty taste of his seed on her lips.

"I can taste myself on you," he said, his voice low and rough, rolling them over to feel Elena beneath him once more. "That's so fucking sexy, Elena." His tongue pushed back into her and took a more thorough exploration, stifling a groan at the potent combination of her taste and his release. He wanted to taste her everywhere.

He wanted to taste her down _there_.

Damon pulled himself back from Elena, propped himself above her body, and kissed a trail back down to her birthmark. He scraped the spot gently with his fangs. The powerful musk of her arousal staggered his senses, surrounding him in a cloud of Elena. He wanted to completely bury himself in her, to lose and find himself again within her goodness and heat. Taking a deep breath, Damon dipped his head down to Elena's wetness, and he kept his eyes on her as he took a long, languid lick up her slit.

Elena panted and writhed her hips. She felt like she was burning alive by the desirous fire of Damon's touch. She gasped for air, but before she could reel her singed senses in, Damon licked her pussy again, this time flicking the sensitive bud when he reached the top of her. His tongue moved in and out of her folds, dipping, teasing, poking, filling, floating her to higher and higher heights of golden pleasure. His eyes rolled back in his head as he sucked on her pussy lips, and he groaned, a masculine, primitive sound that vibrated curls of bliss throughout her core. As his mouth worked her pussy, his hands worked her birthmark, drawing and kneading the flesh of her thighs.

"Damon," she sighed, feeling the pressure grow more and more insistent. "Fuck...Damon, please don't stop." His motions grew more insistent at her cries, and his tongue plunged in and out of her core, burying himself in her heat. He felt her inner walls spasm around him, and he moved faster and faster, growling at her to come for him, to fall apart around him, to completely give herself over to him the way he had surrendered himself to her. Faster and harder, harder and faster his tongue and hands lapped at her, feeling her tighten and constrict and get closer and closer, when all of a sudden she cried into the night and bucked her hips and let her orgasm completely consume her.

Damon dusted a gentle kiss against Elena, first her pussy, then her birthmark, then crawled back up her body to watch her after her release. She looked so goddamn beautiful, all sated and happy, and the corners of her mouth had curled up into a small, sleepy smile as she lay back on the blanket. He nestled up to her, wanting the comfort of her body against his, and couldn't stop a giddy expression from overtaking his face when she turned into him and snuggled her body into the crook under his arm.

"Well, someone looks like they've just received a mind-blowing orgasm," he teased, fluttering soft kisses against her hairline. Elena hummed her approval.

"My entire body feels like Jell-O," she sighed, allowing Damon to pull her on top of him. The slickness of their spent bodies made them slide against each other, and Damon felt his lower regions stir when Elena's legs leeched themselves around his hips.

"Jell-O, huh?" He nipped at the spot underneath Elena's neck that he knew made her squirm with delight. "You don't taste like Jell-O."

"Try again." Elena's eyes opened, the light in them playfully challenging. Damon grinned at her and nipped at the same place, loving the way she shivered beneath him.

"Nope, still no Jell-O." Damon rolled them over and propped his arms on top of her. "Maybe if I tasted somewhere _lower_..."

The next sound that echoed throughout the Salvatore property was Elena's squeal as Damon buried his face between her thighs once again.

They pleasured each other with their mouths for the rest of the night, loving and touching each other, relishing in their opportunities to explore the bodies of their beloved. They loved each other over and over again, placing each other's satisfaction before their own, and the last thing either of them remembered before succumbing to sleep was the feel of safety in their lover's arms, the feel of their limbs irrevocably intertwined, and the feel of their bodies, hearts, and souls in complete union with each other.

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><p><strong>I am so humbled by the love you show this story. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for all of your support. Every single email alert I receive saying that someone has subscribed to, favorited, or reviewed my work makes me indescribably happy. I know I'm rotten at sticking to a consistent posting schedule, but I want to let you all know how much I appreciate you. I truly have the best readers in the world. <strong>

**Hugs and love to Jenn (ElvishGrrl) for whipping this chapter into shape and reassuring me when I feel down about my writing. She's awesome. Check out her stuff ASAP.**

**I love hearing from you. Please drop me a line to let me know what you thought of the chapter! Annnnnd if you're looking for something else to read, check out my new-ish stories _Wings_ and _Bourbon In Your Eyes_ (if you haven't done so already). I had/have so much fun writing them and hope you'll love them as much as I do. **

**- Amy**


	10. Chapter 10

A soft, satiated smile played on Elena's lips as she drifted off to sleep. Damon's hard, naked body lay beneath her supple one and his strong arms wrapped around her waist, holding her to him. She felt comforted that he was just as unwilling to break the intimate feel of their bodies on each other as she was, that he wanted the new level of closeness they'd achieved during the night to continue for just a bit longer.

Elena sighed as Damon's fingers traced unintelligible patterns on the silken flesh of her back, feeling her skin tingle in the wake of his touch. She nestled her face into his chest and inhaled deeply. His distinctive scent of mint, spice, and something utterly masculine soothed her senses. She floated effortlessly into sleep, reveling in the way that she and Damon could just fall asleep in the middle of his front yard, as naked as two newborn babes, displaying their shared love for the entire world – or the creatures that occupied the surrounding woods – to see.

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><p>Hazy sensations of warmth and need filtered through Elena's awareness as she slowly slipped back into consciousness. Her dreams had grown increasingly erotic and lifelike throughout the night, and she wasn't entirely sure just how much of them were natural and how many were a result of Damon's brain-invading techniques. Image after image of his firm body moving forcefully against hers had bombarded her sleep-vision. His blue eyes, blazing and intense, were focused completely on her. His skilled hands, tongue, and body worked her into a state of pliant surrender.<p>

For some reason, Elena felt those thrilling sensations all the more strongly now that she teetered on the cusp of awakening.

Hot, throbbing desire pressed insistently at the bundle of nerves between her thighs. She squirmed and tried to push her legs together to ease that coiled pressure, but they wouldn't close. She vaguely registered the feel of a pair of hands gently gripping her inner thighs and holding them apart. Elena tried to roll over and burrow herself back into her dreams, but the grasp on her thighs remained strong. Her forehead wrinkled in frustration, and she stayed on her back as a low, feral chuckle sounded from far away.

Cool fingers traced slow lines from her knees to the top of her thighs. Elena heard a breathy gasp in the distance that sounded a lot like her voice. Her hips bucked as the fingers crept to and from her heated core, always stopping just shy of the place she needed them the most, causing flares of urgency to fizz within her blood. A whimper pushed itself forth from her lips, and that same primal laugh sounded once again. Elena shivered, certainly not because she felt cold, but because the dark, seductive noise aroused her unbearably. Seedy moisture pooled between her legs. The laugh turned into a growl and before Elena could make sense of the noise, her legs flipped up onto a pair of broad shoulders seconds before a coarse face buried itself between her thighs.

Elena's eyes shot open and darted down her body. Damon was positioned between her legs, the glint in his eyes hungry and reckless as his tongue dipped to sample her folds over and over again. Her mouth opened, but no sound came from it. She fisted the sheets beneath her. She knew they were in Damon's bedroom and assumed that he must have moved them from the front lawn at some point during the night, but she refused to tear her eyes from the carnal sight below her to confirm her beliefs. No, all that Elena could see, hear, and feel was Damon, Damon, Damon.

His tongue and fingers worked her expertly. No part of her was left unexplored, no part of her felt neglected. He alternated between rapid and languid licks, between sucking her nether lips and flicking her bud, between rubbing small circles on her clit and propelling his fingers in and out of her wetness. She felt so sensitive to his touch. Even the smallest of Damon's actions caused Elena to sob out in pleasure. As her cries grew louder, his movements grew more frenzied, and his tongue and fingers dove into her with an overwhelming zeal that goaded a litany of curses and 'Damon's to leave her mouth. All it took was one definitive swirl of his tongue on the underside of her puss to make her shatter, to make her still and scream out as the delicious pressure within her melted throughout her body, rendering her limbs golden and boneless.

"That was some wake-up call," she murmured when she finally regained her breath. Damon smirked at her.

"Lucky you gets to reap the benefits of my _many_ years of practice," he said, his voice low and raspy and undeniably sexy. He playfully nipped at Elena's birthmark and shot her a cheeky smile.

Elena couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Yes, lucky me," she drolly commented. She tried to keep a straight face of indifference, but a giggle escaped her when Damon's eyes widened with mock indignation. She blinked and he was hovered over her, his face inches away from hers, his eyes teasing and dangerous.

"You are _so_ lucky, Elena Gilbert," he purred, dropping his face closer and closer to hers, and just when Elena thought he was going to kiss her, he jammed his fingers into her ribs and began tickling her relentlessly.

Elena squealed as she tried to squirm away from Damon and his persistent hands. Her efforts failed every time. If she wriggled to the right, his fingers anticipated her move. If she twisted to the left, his hands adjusted to her new location. If she tried to tickle _him_, he merely held her out of his reach and continued to push his fingers into her flesh, causing her to giggle and snort and flail wildly in his arms.

"I don't think...that this matchup...is fair...at all," she choked out between laughing breaths. "Vampires definitely have...all the advantages...in a vampire-human tickle war."

Damon grinned. His fingers eased up on her tortured flesh but didn't release her entirely. "Do you surrender?"

"_Never_."

God, how he loved Elena's fire. "Then I guess you'll have to work on your strategy," he challenged. Enjoying the way he could see straight to the depths of her wide, chocolate eyes, his fingers dove right back into her sides, provoking another series of shrieks and giggles from her mouth that made him feel as light and bubbly as if he'd traded his blood for champagne. She did something to him, this gorgeous slip of a girl, watching her laugh and writhe as a result of his actions.

He felt happier than he ever imagined was possible. It was all because of her.

"Oh, you are _so_ lucky to have me around," Damon said, digging his fingers deeper into her waist as he looked at her with a mischievous smile. "Admit it, Elena."

"This isn't luck, this is torture!"

His tickles grew more forceful. "I think you like it more than you're letting on, Elena," he clucked, drawling the syllables of her name. "I'm sure I could _compel_ the truth to slip out of you."

"I'm on vervain," she asserted through wispy gasps, unable to escape the fervent attack of his hands. "You can't compel me, Damon Salvatore."

He raised an impish eyebrow. "No?" He straddled her hips and dropped his lips to the shell of her ear, grazing it with his teeth and delighting in her shivers that resulted. "I'm sure I could think of other ways to _persuade_ you." He took her lobe between his lips and teeth and sucked hard.

Elena sucked in a sharp breath as she felt Damon's mouth close around her ear. Her hands involuntarily grasped at his back, betraying her stubborn words with her body's incessant need to have him close. Of course Damon could persuade her.

She would love every last minute of his persuasion.

"Somehow I think I would enjoy your persuasive tactics more than you'd want me to," she admitted, trying her damndest to keep breathing normally despite the sinful way Damon's tongue was exploring the patch of skin beneath her ear. Damon chuckled against her flesh.

"That's the point, Elena," he said, letting his lips drift down to the hollow of her throat. "You're buckets of fun when I've got you all squirmy-like underneath me."

Elena wondered if it really was possible for a human to spontaneously combust. Then again, there was nothing spontaneous about Damon's actions. He moved over her with leisured purpose, deliberately skimming his mouth over every inch of the sweet skin of her neck. She arched into him, eager to be closer, desperate to feel more of his hardness against her. She'd never felt such an innate need for anyone before, and knowing that his love and desire for her was just as strong? _That_ was truly a gift.

"I'm not lucky, Damon," she whispered into his mouth, meeting his blue eyes with her brown ones. "I'm fortunate."

His glance momentarily narrowed in confusion, then turned light again as he pressed a teasing kiss to her collar. "Is there a difference?" He paused his ministrations to focus entirely on what Elena had to say.

Elena brushed an escaped tendril of Damon's raven hair behind his ear. "Luck is something we have no control over. It's empty chance. Fortune, on the other hand, is prosperity achieved through our choices. Every decision we've ever made, good or bad, influences our fortune." Unable to help herself, she cupped his cheek in her palm as her thoughts turned sentimental. "I don't think that fate brought us together, Damon. I think that all of the choices we made, whether or not we had each other in mind when we made them, led us to each other."

Damon stared at Elena. Stark love radiated from his eyes at the beautiful, intelligent, insightful woman who lay within his arms. She'd completely turned his world upside down in a mere seven days. While a part of him still couldn't believe that someone as compassionate and selfless as Elena Gilbert would willingly choose to be with him, he was finally able to listen to the inner voice that maintained that he must have done something right. She loved him, maybe for reasons that he didn't understand, but he must have done something right to receive her love and affection.

"I'm really glad that you're here with me," he quietly said. The words were uncharacteristically earnest, and they could never convey the cascade of emotions he felt for her, but they would have to do.

"I'm glad that I'm here with you, too."

Damon smiled at Elena, and she smiled back at him. They both watched each other for several seconds. The room was soundless except for the various chirps of the assorted birds that nested outside of his window. Neither one of them felt the need to say anything. Simply being with each other was more than enough.

The morning sun shone gently into Damon's room and bathed his bed in a pool of light. A sunbeam danced across Damon's back and made his skin look even more translucent than it already was. Elena stared at him, her mouth reverently open and her eyes filled with awe. He looked stunning in the sunlight, and the blissful, adoring way he looked at her made her heart swell within her chest. She slowly ran her fingers through his dark, unruly hair, reflecting on just how perfect this moment was, when a thought hit her harder than a freight train.

This was _the_ moment.

Her breath hitched in her throat as she played with the idea in her head. It was daytime and they were still naked from last night's activities. They were alone in his bedroom and the boarding house, two sites where the greater part of their bond had been forged. There were no candles or rose petals, and the scene was void of romantic music, but none of those artificial things mattered. She was here. He was here. The emotional stage for this moment had been set. There was no need to delay things any longer.

"Damon?" she whispered, her voice strong and shy at the same time.

"Yeah?" His eyes bore into hers as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

Elena bit her lip, a nervous habit she never understood the meaning of until now. Damon wouldn't deny her. She knew he wouldn't.

She knew that this was right.

She knew that _they_ were right.

She took a deep breath. "I don't want to wait anymore."

Damon blinked once, then a second time as he tried to process Elena's statement. He felt like he'd been waiting his entire existence to hear her speak those words, and everything she'd implied over the past several days indicated that he would have to wait another month to get to this place.

"You don't want to wait for the rest of the month?" he asked, feeling his stomach flip as he waited for her response. He hoped he wasn't articulating something that would make Elena retract her sentence. Hell, he would kick himself in the ass if she'd forgotten about her one-month plan and _he_'d been the one to remind her about it.

Then again, Damon knew that he'd feel even worse if he didn't acknowledge the big stipulation that'd been governing their physical activity for the past three days. He didn't want their first time together to be marred by self-doubt and worries of rushing into anything. He didn't want Elena to break her rule for the mere sake of making him happy. If that's what was happening here, it wouldn't be fair to either of them.

"No, I don't," Elena said, knowing Damon would want to know why she suddenly decided to fast-forward through three and a half weeks of planned abstinence. "I thought we needed an entire month to strengthen the emotional side of our relationship, but the past days have showed me that we've had that connection for so long now." She pulled his face down to hers, so close that their noses brushed against each other. "I love you, and I know that you love me. I want to be connected to you in every humanly way possible."

Damon felt as if someone had gradually turned up the heat in his blood as he listened to Elena's explanation. His eyes melted into a pool of blue, and he stroked her hair with a gentle touch. "I want to make this perfect for you, for us. I should find some candles or mu—"

"Damon, I don't need a jazz soundtrack or a blazing fire to make this moment special," Elena insisted. She looked deeply into his eyes to convey the full meaning of her subsequent words. "I just need you."

Any of Damon's lingering questions immediately dissolved in that moment, and a wide grin spread across his face as he covered Elena's lips with his own. His giddiness transferred into his kiss. He molded his lips to hers and they cradled him with their softness. His tongue swept teasingly along the line of her lower lip, and when she purred with satisfaction, he snuck it into the hotness of her mouth. He saturated himself in her taste, that damned herbal and honey that drove him to the brink of lust and love and insanity every single time he experienced it. Their mouths moved seamlessly together, giving and taking and taking and giving, both lovers innately meeting and offering each other all they had to give.

The breathy mewls Elena made into his mouth seemed to be directly connected to Damon's cock, and he felt his length twitch as he pressed it into her stomach. He upped the intensity of the kiss, deepening the pressure of his lips against hers as his hips swiveled in his desperate attempt to ease the surmounting pressure inside of him. His mouth remained glued to hers, determined to continue eliciting those whimpers and quiet moans, as his fingers snaked down her body, over a peaked nipple, over her taut stomach, over a hipbone until they found her feminine heat, hot and wet and waiting for him.

Damon stroked her folds, tentatively at first, but when Elena sighed into his mouth he increased the pace of his touches. The circles he drew around her bud grew faster. His strokes over her clit and pussy lips became more deliberate, and he eventually slipped a finger, then a second and third one inside of her, releasing a low moan of satisfaction at how wet and tight and ready she was.

The pleasure Elena felt was almost too much for her to handle. Damon left no part of her body unlavished with his affections. His lips plundered hers, forceful and predatory, taking as much satisfaction from her willing mouth as she could possibly give. His right hand was nestled between her legs, rubbing and teasing and pumping in and out of her, winding that fiery coil in the triangle of her hips tighter and tighter and tighter. His other hand had latched itself to her breast, alternating between various brushes, flicks, and tweaks of her nipple. Every last one of Damon's actions served to stoke the fires that ravaged her blood. Her capacity to withstand pleasure was about to overflow, and as Damon worked her body into a frenzy, she realized that there was one thing missing from this picture.

"Damon," she gasped, breaking their kiss with stark need dripping from her eyes. "Please Damon, I need you inside of me now."

Damon nodded, unwilling to deny her anything. He'd felt his own internal fires burn harder and harder as he moved over Elena, and it took every last bit of his willpower to keep himself from exploding all over her body. As he positioned himself fully on top of her and lined himself up with her entrance, he looked down at Elena to make sure that this was okay, that she wanted this, because he would sooner stake himself than hurt her.

The expression on Elena's face reflected nothing but certainty. Her eyes glowed. She looked at him in a way that made everything else in the world disappear. There was only him and her, Damon and Elena. Months of teasing, heartbreak, and learning to understand each other had brought them to this moment.

Damon wouldn't have wanted their relationship to develop any other way.

He slowly pushed himself into Elena, desiring to prolong the experience of entering her for as long as possible. He kept his motions gentle as he eased into her, letting her adjust to the feel of him inside of her. Her walls gripped him like a velvet fist, and he hissed as they contracted around him for a brief second. She felt un-fucking-believable. It would be a damned miracle if he managed to last past the next thirty seconds.

Elena tightened the grip of her arms around Damon's shoulders as he filled her. She felt deliciously stretched and inherently feminine as this powerful being sank his erection into her inch by inch, and an unfamiliar, welcome feeling of completeness simmered throughout her veins. She hadn't known that she'd been missing anything until now, but after finally experiencing the wonder of Damon inside of her, she knew that he was it for her. He felt _so_ good and snug inside of her, and the blaze of his eyes as he looked down at her gave her the impression of invincibility.

Her fingers tightened into the silk skin of his back, and he began to rock into her, slowly at first, keeping his eyes fixed upon Elena. He wanted to see all of her reactions, to feel fully connected with her during such an intimate and important moment in their union. His strokes, tentative at first, became powerful and deep, and his eyes rolled back in his head when he felt her nails claw into his flesh. He kept a slow, steady pace, and she arched herself into him, meeting him thrust for thrust, the downward angle of his entrance allowing him to go further and further into her wetness. He wanted to give her everything, make her feel everything. When he felt her walls begin to shudder around him, he quickly changed their position, propping one of her legs over his shoulder before dropping his head down to steal a sweet, endless kiss.

Elena wrapped her other leg around Damon's waist and pulled him to her. She didn't think they could be any more connected if they tried, but she couldn't stop her hips from urging him to move. He resumed his slow, unhurried thrusts, punctuating his motions with deep kisses on her face, neck, and breasts. His tender caresses sparked metallic spools of light behind her eyes, silver and gold and bronze and beautiful, and when he flicked her nipple with his talented tongue, she yanked his mouth back to hers, attacking his lips with an unexpected savagery that provoked them both into a frenzy of desire.

Damon had felt pressure building in his core ever since Elena first told him that she didn't want to wait any longer, but the rough way she kissed him made his balls feel as if they were a touch away from detonation. He returned her kiss with equal intensity as he sped up his thrusts, driving his hips faster and harder into her, crashing his dick into her sweet spot over and over again. Elena cried out beneath him, and he felt both of her heels dig into his back as she wildly bucked up to meet his motions.

He knew she was close. Her walls began to sporadically clench around his cock and her eyes started to roll back in her head. He wanted to see those pretty eyes when she came. He wanted to see what he did to her.

"Elena," he murmured, his voice rough and raw. "Look at me."

She did, her eyes wide and fathomless and a river of melted chocolate, and he pounded into her once, then twice, and on the third thrust she shattered around him, squeezing and contracting and milking him dry, prisms of light refracting behind her vision. The aftershocks of her orgasm spurred him on, and his release followed some strokes later when he shot several long streams of his essence into her.

Damon looked down at Elena with a dazed expression. He could feel himself shaking, and he lifted a trembling hand to her face in attempt to calm himself down. He'd had so many fantasies of how he and Elena would be together ever since he met her, but what they just did far surpassed even his wildest fantasies. He never doubted that she'd be phenomenal in the sack, but holy hell, he was shaking for Christsakes! He almost began to chide himself for sounding like such a chick, but as he gazed at Elena, all rumpled and tender and sated beneath him, he refused to deny himself the emotional significance of what they'd done.

That, right there, was the best sex he'd ever had.

Elena could feel Damon shaking above her, and she raised her hand to wipe the sheen of sweat off his face. Truth be told, she was just as impacted by their encounter as he was. He had worshipped her as if she were a goddess. Never before had she felt such brazen reference directed at her. He made her feel wanted, desired, and loved beyond belief, and the way he was currently resting his head on her breast made her heart beat uncontrollably with her love for him.

"Damon?"

He lifted his head and blinked owlishly. "Yeah?"

"Why the hell did we wait so long?"

Damon couldn't believe the audacity of the woman beneath him. He propped himself back above her and searched her eyes to see if she was serious or not. When a smile burst onto her face, he couldn't help but match it, and before long the two of them were nestled up in each other, limbs irrevocably entangled, laughing loudly enough at the sheer hilarity of Elena's question.

"Why the hell did we wait so long?" Damon demanded, dotting her mouth with staccato kisses. "Are you seriously asking me that?"

Elena giggled as Damon's kisses rained over her face. "And if I am?"

Damon quickly positioned himself back on top of her and ground his erect length onto her stomach, taking full advantage of his vampire stamina. "Then I think you need another reminder of everything that you were missing out on that entire time."

Her eyes blazed with possibility and promise. "Maybe," she said, rolling him on his back and jumping onto his hardwood floors. "But first I need a shower."

Damon's mouth dropped open. A shower? Now? Really? Did she _not_ see his ginormous cock standing fully upright? He lay on his bed, craning his neck as a fully naked Elena strutted towards his bathroom, adding a purposeful sway to her ass as she walked. He suddenly had the strongest urge to bounce quarters off it...or bite it...either one, really.

Just before Elena passed the bathroom door, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "I'm feeling dirty, Damon. Care to help me get clean?"

A toothy, predatory grin spread across Damon's mouth. In a flash he had her pressed against the shower wall, loving the slippery feel of her skin sliding against his.

"With pleasure."

* * *

><p>He took her in the shower, permanently abandoning her plan to get clean as he drove her back into his grey stone slabs. After he helped her towel off, he took her again against his bedroom door, then again in the hallway, in the rest of the newly redone upstairs bathrooms, on the staircase, on top of the piano, and in front of the fireplace. He cooked her lunch and sat with her while she ate it, and when they finished reading Elena's profile of Milly's Floral Shop in the Mystic Falls newspaper he sat her on top of the counter, sank his fangs into her birthmark, and had his lunch as well. He bent her over the kitchen island and took her from behind. He pinned her against the Salvatore bookshelf and took her there, loving the way her screams intermingled with the sound of books plopping to the floor. They followed those books to the carpet, and Damon gripped her hips as she rode him, her head tipped back and her breasts jutting forward, bringing each of them another orgasm to add to their collection for the day.<p>

Elena slid off him and fell to the floor, her chest heaving with exertion. "Damon, I think I'm dead."

Damon snorted, feeling his own chest rise and fall as he struggled to regain his breath. His eyes slipped over to Elena and appreciatively watched her breasts jiggle with each of her inhalations. "If by dead you mean had your world _rocked_ by a really sexy vampire, then yeah, you're dead."

Elena sighed, rolling over onto her side to face Damon. She used her arm and one of the fallen books as a headrest. "I think I've seen more of the boarding house today than I have in every other time I've been here combined."

"True, although we did miss out on the dungeons during our little sex tour. Could be kinky," he said, heartily laughing when she narrowed her eyes at him and chucked a book at his head.

She missed.

"Damon Giuseppe Salvatore, I am not having sex in your dungeon!"

"Okay, okay," he said, pulling her on top of him and planting a generous, placating kiss on her lips. "Later, then...ouch!" He rubbed his arm to ease the spot where she'd just punched him.

"You're hilarious."

"And you love me for it," he teased. A thought popped into his head. "Actually, there's one place we haven't covered today that I want to show you." He pushed himself up off the floor and leaned down to pick up Elena, cradling her in his arms as a groom would his new bride. That familiar flutter tickled his stomach as her arms linked around his neck.

She looked at him with suspicious eyes. "The attic?"

Damon shuddered. "God, no. It has wooden floorboards, and I do _not_ need splinters in my perfect ass." He walked them to the door closest to the backyard. "I was thinking about the flower garden."

Elena's eyes gaped open. "It's finished? I thought John Lawn was working on it through today."

"I convinced them to finish it early," he said, suddenly feeling sheepish and nervous and too much like a lovesick little boy. He gently set her down on the floor and interwove their fingers. "Come on, let's check it out."

He opened the back door and motioned for Elena to lead the way. He kept his eyes glued on her as they walked across the backyard. As the flower garden came into view, a distinct floral fragrance began to perfume the air. Damon watched Elena close her eyes and inhale deeply, and his heart pounded against his chest when he saw a gentle smile appear on her face. They walked closer and closer until they finally stood in front of the garden.

Elena's mouth fell open. Damon's flower garden was the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. Gladioli and lilacs intermingled with each other, the pinks and reds and yellows of the gladioli petals creating a beautiful awning for the purple flowers. White lilies surrounded three sides of the koi pond, and as she tiptoed up to the edge she saw the wriggling masses of orange and white happily gliding beneath the lily pad surfaced water. Rosebushes of every size and color adorned the stone pathways that wove through the fauna, and Elena dipped her head to smell a particularly large peach one. A small sigh of pleasure escaped her mouth at the lovely aroma, and she squeezed Damon's hand to convey her enjoyment.

She led them both through the remainder of the garden, emitting various hums of pleasure as they passed the sunflowers, pansies, and hanging geraniums, until the path reached a dead end. They stood in the middle of a five foot wide stone circle. Standing across from them was Elena's apology tree and a large stone bench, distantly bordered by an arrangement of dahlias and gardenias. The sunlight, barely on its descent towards the western sky, cast a gleam of light over the space, and as Elena stepped closer to the bench she saw a metal plaque embedded in the tiles beneath it.

"_**I wished for nothing beyond her smile, and to walk with her thus, hand in hand, along a sun-warmed, flower-bordered path." – Andrew Gide**_

_**Elena's Garden**_

_**August 21, 2011**_

Elena's hand leapt to cover her open mouth. She reread the plaque, then looked up at Damon. He watched her with an uncertain tenderness that she hadn't seen on him before. Warm tears pooled in her eyes, and she wiped them away before she finally spoke.

"You created all of this for me?" she whispered, almost as if daring herself to believe that someone as outwardly tough as Damon Salvatore would make such a kind, selfless gesture towards her.

Damon thought about making one of his signature smart-ass remarks to lighten the situation, especially as he couldn't tell whether Elena's tears were good or bad ones, but he decided a simpler, more heartfelt response would be more appropriate in this situation. "Yes."

"Oh, Damon," she breathed, swiping at the tears that now freely flowed down her cheeks. "No one's ever done anything so nice for me before."

He cautiously stepped to her side. "Do you like it?"

"I love it." Her hands flew around his neck and jerked his mouth down to hers, attacking him with all of the adoration and gratitude she could muster. "It's perfect," she insisted, kissing his eyes, his cheeks, and finally his lips. "Everything about this place is perfect. Thank you so much for this."

Damon couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face as his incredibly enthusiastic girlfriend lathered his face with kisses. "Seriously, had I known you would react this way over a simple flower garden, I would have built it months ago."

"Shut up and kiss me, Damon," she commanded, yanking his mouth back to hers. He acquiesced to her demands with great pleasure, and as their mouths moved leisurely against each other, he felt her guiding them around the stone patio.

He felt his legs hit the back of the stone bench with a thud. His body plunked down on it, and he broke away from Elena to stare up at her. The sunlight framed her body and ignited her in a translucent glow, and she stared down at him with one of those ravenous looks of hers that he had really learned to enjoy.

"Make love to me in my garden, Damon," she murmured against his lips. Her voice was low and seductive, and he felt his cock spring to life at the sound of her request. He scooted back to the middle of the bench and planted his legs on either side of the stone. She quickly followed him, sinking down on his length as she settled in his lap. Simultaneous groans broke from their lips, and their mouths met in frenzy as they rocked against each other once more. Her legs wrapped around his back. Their bare chests rubbed together. His fingers dug into her hips, lifting her up and down and up and down, impaling her on his length over and over again.

"I love you," he whispered, driving up into her during a particularly intense thrust. Her thighs quivered and her limbs trembled, and her orgasm slammed into her, with his release taking him just as violently moments later. He leaned back onto the bench and she fell on top of him, and they both just held each other as they waiting for their racing hearts and bodies to settle.

"I don't want to share you just yet," he admitted, breaking the comfortable silence that sat between them. He placed a finger underneath Elena's chin and prompted her to look up at him. "Let's avoid your friends and my brother and Ric for a little bit longer."

She giggled, absently running her fingers through his dampened hair. "What are you suggesting, Damon?"

"I'm suggesting that we take our own vacation." His body tensed, and he abruptly sat up as the energy of his developing plan consumed him. "Just you and me, my Camaro, and the open road. Wouldn't it be great, Elena?" he said, seeing that she would have to be further convinced. "We can go anywhere within driving distance – which, considering the way I drive, could be anywhere between either ocean – and stay in our sexy little love bubble until your school starts next Monday."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Sexy little love bubble?"

"Why, what would you call it?" She laughed, and he laughed with her before his pleas grew serious. "I've got quite the urge to see nothing covering that birthmark of yours on a private beach in Florida, Elena."

The expression on her face turned playful. "Oh, do you now?"

"Yep," he said, popping the word directly in her ear. The vibrations gave her goosebumps, and Damon took advantage of the opportunity to press his lips to her neck. "You and me, Elena," he murmured, savoring the saltiness of her skin. "What do you say?"

* * *

><p>Less than an hour later, a blue, antique Chevy Camaro was seen cruising south on I-95 with the top down. A dark, pale, beautiful man sat in the driver's seat. An equally beautiful woman with long, brown hair, a genuine smile, and an especially unique birthmark sat next to him.<p>

THE END.

* * *

><p><strong>I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving so much of your love and support to this story. It has been such a joy to share <em>Birthmark<em> with you and I've truly appreciated every last story alert, favorite, or review email I've received in my inbox. I have the best readers in the world! Extra thanks go out to Jenn (Elvish Grrl) for her invaluable suggestions and her knowledge of seasonal flowers! **

**Well friends, you know what to do. Leave me some reviewin' love! I absolutely _adore_ hearing from you. **

**Take care until next time, and be good to yourselves.**

**- Amy**


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